The Leaf's Naruto
by Morta's Priest
Summary: There's something to be said for keeping the past as it was - makes it predictable, malleable. Naruto never bought those arguments. He's always been the one to power through adversity rather than wait it out, so why would now be any different? He'll do what has to be done, even if he steps on a few butterflies along the way.
1. Knife to the Throat

_**The Leaf's Naruto**_ by Morta's Priest

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Kunai to the Throat**

"No, wait! What are you doing? I'll pay you twice as much as whoever hired you! No-"

The panicked man's cries were cut off abruptly as a kunai severed his carotid artery; blood spatters rained across the sign behind his chair, of which only the letters 'Shi' were visible. The man had only a few moments to look in disbelief at his killer, before he slumped to the ground, a pool of blood slowly spreading outwards. Casually wiping away the blood on his blade, his killer stepped back, looking on sadly as his victim expired. He'd never even know exactly why he'd been targeted - and probably wouldn't have believed the answer anyway.

He didn't like killing. In fact, he generally avoided the practice entirely; this was different. Slipping his kunai back in its sheath, the shinobi quickly made his way up the wall, departing the house through one of the windows on the second floor - different to the one he'd entered through. It would take only minutes for guards to track down the man's screaming, and discover the body, but that was quite enough. Still, he needed to hurry: he couldn't afford to be seen anywhere nearby.

Wrapping his dark clothes closely around himself, he quickly made his way across two roofs and onto the rather unimpressive wall that surrounded the compound; it was certainly not as remarkable as Konoha's and the guard detail took minutes to make a full sweep. That was a lethal mistake when dealing with shinobi, who took advantage of even second-long periods of inattention. Drawing two kunai, he tossed himself over the wall, impaling the sharp implements into the wall and riding them down to the ground, setting down right next to the small stream that served as the compound's water supply. There was a certain irony to it: Kunai like these were first used to dig holes into walls not unlike this one, not as weapons.

There was a sudden clamour up above which meant the murder had been discovered. Quicker than he'd anticipated, but not nearly fast enough. Tossing his overcoat and hood aside, the shinobi dived headfirst into the stream, forcing his way through the current. The coursing water would wash away any traces that tracking ninja or dogs might follow. Raised voices slowly receded in the distance as he forced himself to keep going. When the lights were finally out of sight, and the night was silent once more, he got back onto land. He wrung out his clothes and inspected his kunai; they weren't made of iron, but keeping them clean was paramount for their effectiveness, he knew.

"Mission complete," The shinobi whispered to himself, smiling wryly as he gazed back, the wall he'd just descended barely visible on the horizon. For a moment, he enjoyed the slight drizzle – fitting weather, for such a dreary act. Technically, what he'd just done had been a crime – a pretty severe one, actually. Assassination of civilians was always questionable, but without even the authorization of a Kage or Daimyo, he would probably have to face the death penalty if anyone found out. Not that anyone would. He was good enough to escape attention, especially when there were no shinobi involved. Still, it was the principle of the thing.

Not that he felt _terribly_ guilty about what he'd done. He was a shinobi; assassination and stealth were all too common in missions. Besides, he did have a little information that others didn't: his victim hadn't been innocent. Not at all. Things would take a turn for the better, around here. Nobody would know who to thank, but that was alright. Perhaps the Land of Waves would attribute the sudden boon to their lost hero, Kaiza; he could definitely live with that, if it gave Inari some much-needed closure. It didn't really matter, since Gatō's grip on them was at an end now, and far sooner than the last time.

He let out a curse as he suddenly realized he'd probably just nixed his chance a having a bridge named after him. Damn it. Uzumaki Naruto shook his head tiredly, beginning the long run back to Konoha with a muttered curse. He had a Genin exam to get to.

* * *

"Why do you think that idiot's not here?" Kiba wondered, glancing around the class. Everyone else was already present, and Iruka tapped his foot impatiently. "He's almost out of time..."

"Who cares?" Sakura piped in. "Can't we just get started, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka frowned, rubbing his forehead tiredly. It figured that his most problematic student would be late again. "We'll just give him a few more minutes. I am still organizing things, anyway." He grumbled as he sorted through a pile of test scores.

"Where's Mizuki-sensei?" Chōji wondered, snacking on a potato chip. "You said he'd be testing us too, didn't you, sensei?"

Iruka frowned, looking away. For a few long moments he remained silent. Then he turned back, and he sighed. "Ah... I'm afraid to tell you, that Mizuki-sensei is no longer with us." He sat down on his chair, hard, and shook his head.

Shikamaru blinked and sat up. "He's _dead?_"

Iruka nodded darkly. "I'm afraid he was found in his bed, a few days ago – the Hokage chose to keep it largely silent until yesterday, as it might've been an assassination." He slumped a little. "The medical-nin said it was natural, though... I suppose that's sometimes what happens."

"So troublesome," Shikamaru muttered as he sat back in his chair. Quite a few of the other students looked a little pale, though he couldn't quite figure out whether or not it was fear at the thought of death, or just expiring in bed. (He was sure which one it was where Sasuke was concerned, though.)

"I'm here!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, crashing through the door and almost toppling over his feet. The boy skidded to a halt and tried to smile. "Sorry, I had to go back home real quick, to put on some new clothes!"

"...You're not wearing orange," Shikamaru observed.

Naruto turned and smiled brightly. "Actually, I kind of ruined that one on an assassination mission, so I had to get a new set of clothes from home!" He laughed as Shikamaru shook his head in disbelief, and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Okay, you got me; I was climbing on the roofs and..."

"Naruto!"

Naruto turned, his eyes wide. "Iruka-sensei – sorry I'm late, but I'm sure you just heard why, I had a totally legit-, I mean, good reason!"

Iruka sighed wearily. "Naruto – just get in line." He turned to the others and gestured behind him. "For the graduation exam, you'll do the _Bunshin no Jutsu_ – the Clone Technique. I'll be in the next room – when you're called, just come out, and you'll know if you pass right away." He rifled through his papers, and gave up. "I'll just go by order of your papers, here, so get ready to be called any time."

"What a drag," Shikamaru commented, as one by one different students left through the door to take he test, until only a handful were left. He turned to the blond. "So, Naruto, why did you really ditch the orange? The black's cool, but I figured you didn't like it."

Naruto smiled nervously. "I totally told the truth about that - I was going up on the roofs, and one of those masked guys almost caught me. He hooked a kunai into my suit, so when I escaped it got all torn up! Besides, this was the only other colour I had..."

"Masked guys? ANBU?" Shino muttered, drawing attention. He adjusted his glasses and nodded to Naruto. "They were after you?"

"...I sort of painted the monument," Naruto said, smiling broadly. "They'll take forever to figure out how to get it back to normal! Hah!"

"You're such an idiot," Shikamaru said. "Now... the truth, Naruto?"

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Iruka called. For a split second relief flashed across Naruto's face, before he got to his feet and smirked to Shikamaru. "Good luck at your own exam!"

* * *

"You'll have to do the Bunshin, Naruto..." Iruka said apologetically, worriedly looking at the blond. He'd failed twice before, and his chances didn't look much better, now. "I know it's not your greatest strength, but..."

"Hah! That's what you think!" Naruto stuck out his tongue, flashing through hand signs. "_Bunshin no Jutsu_!"

Five clones popped into existence surrounding Naruto in puffs of smoke, each of them smiling broadly. For a few moments, there was absolute silence. Then one of them crumpled to the floor. Naruto glanced at it and shook his head in disappointment. Still, the four others were intact.

"Very well done, Naruto!" Iruka commented, blinking. "I didn't think you'd mastered that jutsu – the last time I saw you try it, they all looked like the sickly one, there..."

"Ah... I can't make just _one_, Iruka-sensei," Naruto admitted sheepishly. "You never said how many there had to be, though... But it's good, right? I pass, right?" He leaned forward eagerly.

Iruka frowned. Jutsu being easier with more chakra wasn't really how it usually worked. The only reason that more clones would work better was if... He sighed, rubbing his forehead. It figured that Naruto of all people would have an overabundance of chakra, considering his burden. "Naruto – how many Bunshin _can _you make?"

"I never actually tried that..." Naruto admitted. "I could try, but I'm sure it'd be LOTS!"

"I'm sure it would be," Iruka answered, frowning. He forced a smile, picking one of the hitai-ate from a side-table and looking over it briefly, glancing up at the grinning blond. "You successfully performed the technique – that means you pass. Congratulations, third time's the charm, after all!"

Naruto accepted the forehead-protector, and immediately replaced his goggles with his new acquisition. "Iruka-sensei, will you come eat at Ichiraku's later? To celebrate?"

Iruka hesitated, and then nodded. "Of course. I'm sure that Teuchi-san will have a great big bowl for you, for becoming a ninja. Now, there are a few others that still need to be tested, so go out to the others, and see who might be on your team." He smiled. "I wonder if they'll be surprised that you passed?"

Naruto was out of the room and whooping at the top of his lungs, and Iruka shook his head in amusement at the boy's antics. It was still hard, sometimes, looking at the boy and forgetting about all the misery that he was a reminder of. Still, the blond had never been cruel or malevolent: Quite the opposite, actually. He pitied the team that would end up with _that_ ball of energy. He turned back to his papers and groaned. Nara Shikamaru was next; how would he convince him that taking this test was worth his time?

* * *

"The Dead-Last passed?" Ino wondered, glaring at Naruto as he entered the courtyard, shiny hitai-ate on his forehead. "Who'd have guessed?"

"Well, after three tries," Sakura said, glancing the other way, to a dark-haired boy leaning against the wall. "Sasuke-kun passed as well – I'm sure I'll be on his team! It'll be amazing!" She grinned at Ino and prodded her in the side. "Can you imagine being on one team with _him_?"

Ino grumbled. "I still say I'll be on his team, not you. You don't even have any special skills, unless supreme bitchiness is one!"

"Ino-pig!" Sakura growled, raising her fist.

"Hey, Sakura, Ino!" Naruto interrupted their impending fight, and both turned their glares on him. He shuddered nervously, though his grin wouldn't go away. "Ah... you both passed as well, then?"

"...Naruto, go bother someone else," Sakura said, scowling. "Even if you have a forehead protector, you're still the Dead-Last. Maybe you should go hang out with Chōji, or something."

"Hey, there's no need to insult Chōji," Naruto muttered. "Sakura-chan, you know that you could get on a team with anyone, right? We could even get on one team, and then we need to get along anyway. You could also be with Chōji, for that matter." He looked towards Ino. "You too. There's no guarantee that you'll be with Sasuke."

"Since when did you get all logical?" Ino said, sighing. "I can do that too, you know. There's only a few girls here – of course one of us will be with Sasuke-kun. Do you think they'd put him with Hyūga Hinata? She can't even look you in the eye without stuttering!"

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you," Naruto noted, turning away. At the last moment, he turned back and winked. "Sakura-chan, want to go out, now that we're shinobi?"

"Naruto, you idiot!"

"I'll take that as a maybe…"

Sakura muttered in annoyance as Naruto wandered off towards Shikamaru and Shino, both of whom were attaching their own hitai-ate to their clothing. Sakura sighed. "He can be such a pain, sometimes…"

"Where were we?" Ino wondered, glancing back at her rival. "Oh, right. Forehead girl, I will be on Sasuke-kun's team!"

* * *

Naruto exhaled wearily as he made his way back to his home, skipping from roof to roof with the ease of a Chūnin. It was exhausting, getting back into his childhood role – he'd not been a Genin for such a long time, it was quite a novel experience to be one again. It was strange to see all the familiar faces of his later friends and allies at such a young age again – especially the ones he worked the most with.

Sakura – she was exactly how he remembered her, precisely how she'd been until at least the original Chūnin Exams, perhaps longer. She didn't even show a hint of the medical ninja she'd grown up to be, but that wasn't a surprise. She'd probably get back to that at some point in the future, though right now Naruto wasn't sure if she'd even end up on the same team as before. That was the trouble with changing things.

Shikamaru hadn't changed a bit. Still the lazy genius, Shikamaru was already putting question marks behind something as comparatively minor as his change of clothes: As expected from the future Jōnin-Commander. Honestly, Naruto had simply chosen the new clothes because he was used to them, and he hadn't had time to change after returning from the Land of Waves – assassination missions being what they were, the dark colours didn't show blood as much, and they served as a good camouflage. Technically it was dark blue, though in the bright light that was hard to make out, It was a horrible job, trying to clean these clothes; thankfully they'd remained unsoiled, this time.

The rest of the class was pretty much as he expected; there were hints of their future careers and specialties, but not much more. Hinata was still the recluse – he'd have to fix that – and Sasuke was the elitist Uchiha he'd always been. He didn't show much of the insanity that marked the boy's later life and death, so there was perhaps a chance to change fate, there. It depended on the teams, now that he'd upset events by taking out a number of dangers before they could really become such. Probably there wouldn't be too much of a difference, but it was a probability game.

He'd started fixing things with Mizuki. Sneaking in and using medical jutsu against him was effective enough – and the wounds of a butchered chakra scalpel technique were easy enough to hide, if you knew how. Granted, Naruto didn't have the sort of chakra control he'd really need to fix something, but that had hardly been his goal; imprecise use of medical techniques was a pretty effective way of nigh-invisible kills. He'd briefly felt bad about resorting to such a brutal method of solving his problems, but he was hardly squeamish about that kind of violence anymore, and it was a far better choice than leaving him alive to terrorize the village again.

Next, of course, had been Gatō. Successful as the mission might have been according to the Hokage, the first time he'd gone out there, the Wave mission had resulted in the deaths of both Zabuza and Haku. Those two people could make an actual difference in future events, especially where Kiri was concerned, so keeping them alive was a good idea. Solving Tazuna's problem with his bridge before it even arrived, _and_ taking out an awful person, thereby undercutting the entire mission? Naruto hadn't thought twice about it.

These two had been the easy targets. Naruto jumped into his apartment through one of the windows, dropping onto his bed immediately, and letting out a deep sigh. He frowned as he thought about all the things he still had to do. Kabuto was still out there, somewhere. Unlike the others, the medical ninja frequently slept with numerous other shinobi close by in the same building, and Naruto didn't have the poisons at his disposal that would've made it a cinch, assuming Orochimaru hadn't given him the means to become immune to those yet. The Snake Sannin was on his list as well; he'd have to figure something out, as that particular shinobi was rather beyond his skills in this smaller body. Having superior chakra control and knowledge could help with a lot, even boosting his speed and strength beyond usual Genin limits, but he still had his weak-ass body to deal with.

_"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,"_ Naruto murmured, and three solid clones popped into existence; two immediately used _Henge_ to turn themselves into rather nondescript villagers, and left. The last of the clones shrugged and sprawled out on the bed.

The real Naruto smirked, snatching a hood from his closet and quickly putting it on. "I'll be back before team announcements."

"Of course you will be, Boss. Remember the dinner with Iruka-sensei, okay? Also, keep an eye out for Kakashi - If he's going to be our sensei again, he might be watching. Don't want to let him in on this whole game before it's necessary, right?"

"I'm not stupid. Well, not _that_ stupid," Naruto answered indignantly. "I think it's time I sent a letter to an old friend. Shouldn't take too long."

The clone chuckled. "Good luck with _that._ I think we'll just have to smack some sense into him again, you know. It worked before."

Naruto shrugged, turning back with sharp eyes. "Maybe I'll consider fetching some new reading material, the other stuff's getting rather stale. If the old man comes by, don't be an asshole."

"I'm you, I can't be!"

"As you're well aware, I _can_ be an asshole." Naruto paused. "I just insulted myself; fantastic." He sighed, jumping out the window and leaving a bemused clone to count sheep and act as an alibi. It didn't take long for loud snoring to break the silence of the apartment.

* * *

**Author's Note:** A little plot bunny running around in my head. A play on the Naruto timetraveller genre in which he has actually learned to be an assassin and silent killer (when he needs to be) and is cutting the legs out from under canon events in a most straight-forward fashion. No 'trying to keep everything the same and thus following the usual storyline' nonsense.

Title's based on the Itachi quote, yes - doing anything for the village, even the unsightly stuff. ;)

May continue this - both his means of returning and his particular skills are fairly well-defined as is a potential plot, but I just wanted to get some feedback about the concept. ^^


	2. Tower Heist

**Chapter 2 - Theft from the Tower**

"One... two..." Naruto flipped over the railing, landing as softly as he could. His legs protested against the strain as he slowly made his way over to the window; walking on tiptoe along the thin edge was difficult enough without the disadvantage of having received practically no physical training of note. Reaching the edge at last, he grasped it tightly and just held on for a few moments.

"This seemed way easier the first time around," He muttered to himself as he vaulted over the edge and into one of the longer hallways of the Hokage's tower, where ANBU would only patrol every ten minutes, instead of _constantly._ The genjutsu he'd put on himself should be sufficient to ward off unsuspecting eyes, but it was nowhere near enough to ward off any serious search, so he'd need to be quick and silent.

The walls were covered in scrolls – hundreds and hundreds of them. Of course, removing them was asking for serious trouble: the only reason he'd gotten away with it the first time was probably sheer luck. Still, he'd been a Genin, then; luck or not, he certainly had to be able to do better this time, considering his experience. Walking over to the back of the hallway, he quickly found the fūinjutsu scrolls – they were the best protected of all, aside from perhaps the forbidden scrolls, and if he didn't want to get caught like last time, he couldn't set off any alarms.

This wasn't the first time he'd gotten in here since he'd returned – the first day he'd taken the forbidden scroll, perusing it for the few techniques that he'd wanted to learn the first time around, but never did. He had them transcribed on one of his own scrolls, but getting around to learning those was of later concern. Circumventing that scroll's defences had almost been too easy; if he was successful again, today, he'd report the problem to the Hokage - and he'd get some kick-ass fūinjutsu scrolls that he hadn't read yet. Both were good.

"L, M... N! Right, here we go." Muttering under his breath, Naruto quickly scanned the slips attached to the scrolls, and identified a few interesting ones. They would probably be too difficult to follow – they usually were – but reading this particular handwriting had something special, and he really wanted to have _something_ of the man. Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage – and his father. "Hope you don't mind, dad. It's for a good cause..."

He formed the all too familiar hand sign, and three shadow clones popped into existence next to him, each reflecting his own black attire and hood. Giving a single nod, each briefly studied the scrolls, and used _Henge_. Three duplicate fūinjutsu scrolls were left behind, and Naruto grinned victoriously as he picked up the first one.

"Now, I only have a short time..." Naruto mumbled, grabbing the first of his father's scrolls. He yanked it out and stuffed the shadow clone one back in the same slot, his heart racing as he waited for several long, drawn-out seconds. No alarm. No Hokage. He let out a sigh of relief, quickly stuffing the scroll behind his belt and grabbing the second shadow clone. Repeating the procedure twice more, three shadow clones now occupied the slots: by the time they dispelled, he'd be long gone.

"Mission complete," He said to himself as he hurried back to the window, leaping out and landing on the next building over in a crouch. It wasn't until several minutes had passed, and the tower wasn't alight with activity, that he allowed himself to relax.

The defences in the Hokage Tower definitely needed some work, then. Well – he'd get around to talking to the old man about that. But not until after he'd perused his new acquisitions.

High above him, looking down on the village from the roof of his Tower, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked after the departing boy. He puffed on his pipe, following him until he went out of sight. Then, he smiled.

* * *

"I'm here, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto stormed into Ichiraku's, jumping onto a stool and catching himself before he could topple over. He smiled brightly, running a hand through his mop of blond hair. "Sorry I'm late!"

"No problem, Naruto," Iruka said softly. "I hadn't started yet – wouldn't be right without you, would it? It's a celebration, after all."

Naruto nodded gleefully. "Finally, I'm a Konoha ninja! Now, nothing stands in my way to my ultimate goal!"

Iruka smiled as Teuchi arrived with two full bowls of Miso Ramen – Naruto attacked it like a voracious animal, loudly thanking the chef for making the 'food of the gods'. "Still the one-track mind, eh Naruto? Still intent on becoming the next Hokage?"

"Of course!" Naruto stopped eating for a moment to give Iruka an incredulous look. "What did you think, that I was just going to go back on my word when I got this hitai-ate? No way, someday you'll see that my face is on that cliff!" He pointed excitedly at the Hokage Monument. "The old man believes I can do it, so that's enough for me!"

Iruka sighed. "Still the disrespect for the Hokage, Naruto? That won't get you any closer to his position, you know."

"Eh, he doesn't mind." Naruto shrugged, emptying his bowl in one massive gulp, and quickly grabbing a second, which Teuchi had kindly already set aside for him. "I wonder what the teams will be, though... Do you know anything about that? I bet my team will be something lame, like Ino and Kiba."

"Even if I knew, you can find out with everyone else, tomorrow." Iruka tapped him on the head and gave a friendly smile. "Perhaps, if you train well enough, I'll call you by a title someday. No slacking off, though, or you won't ever get it. You'll need to put all your energy in important things."

"Right!" Naruto exclaimed, devouring a second bowl of ramen like it was nothing. "Protect the village like everyone in it is my family! Be a leader that people look up to because of respect and awe, rather than fear!" At Iruka's inquiring look, Naruto smirked. "The old man told me that."

"Well, the old man – I mean, the Hokage would know." Iruka sedately ate the rest of his bowl, as Naruto began his next, and then another one. "Hey, Naruto – I could give you a little hint that you might find useful for your first day as Genin." He smiled thinly, rubbing his nose. "What's the greatest tool a shinobi possesses?"

"Eh?"

"Think about it." Iruka said. "If you can figure it out before tomorrow, I'll be impressed!"

"I'll definitely figure it out!" Naruto declared. "The greatest tool? Kunai, maybe? Shuriken? How about ninja-wire, that's extremely useful... Wait, do jutsu count?"

"Tomorrow, Naruto." Iruka admonished. "I'll see you when you get assigned to a team. Don't stay up too late."

"I won't." Naruto gobbled up his last bowl of ramen, and stood up. "I'll definitely be on the best team, and then I'll make sure I'll be the best shinobi in it!" He looked down at his black clothes and frowned. "Definitely need some more orange, though. Can't go to the academy like it's a funeral..."

Iruka chuckled. "I think your new look is pretty nice – makes you look like a real shinobi."

"I _am _a real shinobi," Naruto quipped, tapping his hitai-ate. "Well, I'll see to some more orange anyway – without it, it's just not normal. Bye, Iruka-sensei!"

"Wait-" Iruka sighed as the boy leapt out of the ramen restaurant, his bright hair the last visible part of him as he disappeared into an alleyway across the street. Turning back to the bar, he gulped. Nine empty bowls of ramen were stacked up precariously – and nobody had paid for them. This was going to hurt, right in the wallet.

* * *

"Starting today, you are all ninja of the Hidden Leaf!" Iruka announced, pacing in front of the class. Sakura and Ino were muttering about their places, while Naruto looked on tiredly, plucking at his black-and-orange suit idly. It was close enough to the jumpsuit he'd received from Pervy Sage, during their training trip; with a smile he recalled his travels with Jiraiya of the Sannin; this time around, he intended to keep the man around for much, much longer. He'd considered ditching orange entirely – it'd be a pain to put on new clothes, every time he got sneaky – but he found that he couldn't. He just wasn't the same person without at least some of it.

Naruto yawned loudly. He'd spent most of his night reading the scrolls he'd pilfered, trying to get some idea of what they were even about, but they were a little beyond him. His fūinjutsu skills, however impressive compared to probably anyone else in the room, certainly weren't up the Fourth's level; not that he'd really expected them to be. Perhaps someday he'd be able to read those scrolls, and decipher what his own father had written. Naruto was torn out of his thoughts as Iruka stared sharply at him, and he forced himself to pay attention.

"You will follow your sensei's instructions, as you complete your assigned duties. We've tried to even out the teams, so that they're all about the same strength." Iruka smiled as several people called out in horror. "

After the first few teams, Naruto already saw what was going on – everything was exactly as it was last time; not a bit had changed in any of the teams. Well; not getting in the same team as Sasuke had probably been wishful thinking on his part.

"Next Team: Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto," Sakura groaned. "...and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hell yes!" Sakura called out, punching the air in victory. Naruto looked over at his two teammates with a sigh, thoroughly unsurprised. Sasuke didn't spare him a glance, staring into space like he always did, and Sakura was making faces to Ino, who seemed inconsolable. Then she turned to Naruto, and grimaced. Well, this was going to be _fun_.

Iruka quickly rattled off the other teams, which were the same as always – figured. Finally he was done, and looked out over the class. "...Okay, this afternoon, we'll introduce the Jōnin-sensei. Before that, though – I have question. Consider it extra credit, if you wish."

"Extra credit, after we've graduated?" Shikamaru muttered. "Too bothersome. Wake me when he's done."

Iruka rolled his eyes. "This question is something that you must keep in mind. It's something you should consider when you meet your sensei. What is a shinobi's greatest tool?"

There was a brief silence, as several of the Genin muttered to each other. Naruto stared at Iruka, who glanced in his direction, smiling encouragingly. "Anyone care to make a guess?"

"...It has to be the kunai, they're the most used out of all the shinobi's tools," a girl offered; Naruto realized he actually didn't even know her name. All that vaguely came to mind was that she was one of the Genin that hadn't made it through the invasion at the Chūnin Exams. Something that, if he had anything to say about it, wouldn't happen again.

"That's wrong. Anyone else?"

"Uh... perhaps, chakra?" Hinata offered, cringing slightly. "It is... the most important for all ninja skills, isn't it?"

"A good guess; not many would consider naming chakra a tool. Unfortunately, it is wrong, again. Anyone else?" There was some shuffling of feet. "...Anyone?"

"The mind." Naruto said, barely audible. Iruka turned to him with eyebrows raised. Naruto shrugged, and spoke up. "The mind is the ultimate tool of the shinobi. Without it, all the jutsu and weapons would be pointless."

"Very good, Naruto." Several Genin stared at Naruto, and he fidgeted. Iruka coughed in his hand, tapping his hitai-ate. "The mind, the intellect. That is where we plan, where we process, where we feel. There are shinobi that do not use kunai – they are no less for it. There are shinobi who do not use chakra, or who can only use it in a very limited fashion, and yet they are no less for it. But, there is no shinobi of note, who doesn't use their _mind_. You'd better remember it."

Naruto smiled widely as Iruka sat back down, occasionally glancing at him with a look that he couldn't quite identify – perhaps pride. Whatever it was, even if he hadn't been acting like his younger self, he'd have been hard-pressed to get rid of his elation.

He had plans - plenty of them. He'd been thinking about what to do for the last few days, and his shadow clones were busy preparing a few of those ideas right now. One letter was on its way to Suna - he didn't know if it'd ever reach its target, but at least he'd try, before the Exams. One more letter was headed to Kumo, and he was pretty sure that one would arrive. It'd be interesting to see what the response would be. His last letter - well, he hadn't sent it yet, but he was considering it. Compared to the other two, the risk was far greater, so perhaps he'd simply hand it over in person. If things stayed anything like he remembered them, he'd get the chance.

Now, though, it was time to wait for his Jōnin-sensei. Considering his team was no different, that meant... Damn, this was going to take forever. He let out an annoyed ground slumped on his desk, hoping that something, _anything_ he'd done, had made some impact on Kakashi's chronic tardiness.

* * *

"What're you reading, Dead Last?" Sasuke asked, nearly an hour after the other Genin had left – only team 7 remained behind.

Naruto looked up, blinking. "Oh, it's just a book I found... I thought with all the waiting, I might as well." He tapped it and smiled. "It's quite interesting, it has lots of information on all kinds of shinobi!"

"...Information on shinobi?" Sasuke repeated, frowning. "What exactly-"

"Hello there!" A man suddenly said at the door: Naruto smiled widely as he recognized the masked visage of Kakashi, one eye looking over his three students with interest. "My first impression... I don't like you." He gestured behind him. "Let's get to the roof."

Naruto sighed, following the man without complaint. At least, he reasoned, his choice of literature beat that of his sensei's. Sakura and Sasuke weren't far behind, looking at their new teacher uncertainly. It was actually sort of amazing, Naruto considered, how innocent they all really were, at this point.

"So..." Kakashi said as the four arrived at the roof; Naruto plopped down on the side, quickly turning the pages on his book, searching for a particular page. The teacher noticed, of course, and glanced over. "What are you doing there?"

"Ah, I thought I'd seen... Hah, here you are!" Naruto declared victoriously. "Hatake Kakashi, Copy-nin of Konoha! B-Rank Jōnin..." He frowned. "Man, you got old since this picture, sensei..."

"I haven't been a B-Rank in fifteen years," Kakashi said, blinking. "What's that book? A bingo book?"

"Yup, I found it in one of the training grounds!" Naruto said. He'd better not admit he'd taken it from Mizuki's house – not that the man would have much more use for the thing. "It's a really old one, I think, since it has all these cool shinobi that aren't around anymore!" He flipped the page, showing a picture of a much younger Kakashi, side-by-side with a boy that was unmistakably an Uchiha. "Hold on..."

"... I think we should begin introductions, now. You can read your book later." Kakashi admonished.

"No, this is cool – my favourite ninja of all is in here! Look, he even has a special warning, all for himself!" He turned the book to the others, smiling widely. A picture of the Fourth Hokage wielding one of his special kunai covered the entire page, labelled only 'Flee on Sight'. "Someday I'll be a Hokage too! Uzumaki Naruto, the fifth Hokage! I'll be just as cool as him!" He imitated the solemn pose that the Fourth had in his picture, and was gratified to note that Sasuke suddenly blanched, and Kakashi looked decidedly uncomfortable. _Bingo. Step One in Getting Sasuke's Damn Attention: successful._

"Everyone knows about your silly goal to be a Hokage," Sakura muttered.

"There's nothing silly about such goals," Kakashi interrupted suddenly, frowning. "If he wants to be a Hokage – well, let him try. Who knows, he might surprise you." Naruto smiled radiantly at the praise. "Now, we really should get to introductions. I suppose Naruto already covered mine, and his own. Pinky?"

"Ah..." Sakura glanced at Sasuke, and blushed. "I'm Haruno Sakura. My goal is to be a great kunoichi, and..." She blushed even more. "Well..."

Kakashi nodded, sighing. "How about you, in the corner?"

"...I am Uchiha Sasuke. My goals... no, my ambitions, are the resurrection of my clan... and to kill a certain man."

Well, nothing had changed there. Naruto sighed. He had a lot of work to do.

* * *

"Well, Kakashi?"

"He's grown in an... interesting way, Hokage-sama," The silver-haired Jōnin replied. "He wasn't nearly as annoying as I'd anticipated from the stories – but then, I suppose those were probably coloured by his... burden."

"Naruto is a most interesting boy," the Hokage agreed. "Indeed, I hadn't really considered it until recently – until I caught him doing something he really shouldn't."

"Hmmm?"

The Hokage smiled, tapping his crystal ball. "I've been keeping an eye out, sometimes. A few days ago, out of the blue, Naruto decided to pay a night-time visit to the tower. He was quite sneaky about it – not even the ANBU spotted him."

"...That's pretty good, for an academy student."

The Hokage nodded. "Of course, he usually wears bright orange – he must've learned to be quite good at hiding, if he can manage it with that eyesore of a suit he had. I've noticed he's stopped wearing it since he became a Genin. I don't think it's a coincidence." The Hokage gestured at his scrolls. "Here I've stored all the most powerful and dangerous scrolls in my own library – not even Naruto can get at them. If he can sneak in and out of the tower itself, though, I think he's earned his spoils."

"Ah. You'll make the protections on the scrolls progressively better?" Kakashi guessed. "I recall that being a Jōnin-level assignment, though."

"Perhaps – but then, I think we might be underestimating Naruto's cunning, even now. Do you know which scrolls he took? Not more forbidden scrolls, after the first time – no, he got what he wanted from those, I think. He must've overheard someone about the contents of those... If there is anyone who can use the _Kage Bunshin_ technique to its full potential it has to be him, Keep an eye on that, will you? Regardless, this time he went straight for a specific type of scroll. Fūinjutsu."

"The Sealing Arts?" Kakashi blinked, eyes widening. "Don't tell me..."

The Hokage smiled. "He's been borrowing one Namikaze Minato's notes. Nothing really dangerous, but definitely complex; enough to make me dizzy. If he's already trying to figure out those kind of techniques – who knows? Perhaps it does run in the family, after all."

"That would be interesting, wouldn't it?"

The Hokage shrugged. "When Jiraiya returns to town, I'll ask him to test the boy. He's bound to be here for the Chūnin Exams in a few months." His eyes hardened as he stared at the Jōnin-sensei. "You'll treat Naruto well, won't you, Kakashi? I know you have the last Uchiha on your team, too. No favouritism."

"As you say." Kakashi bowed, and left.

"Uzumaki Naruto – where have you been hiding your talent?" The Hokage muttered to himself as he shook his head in amusement. "Stealing from the Hokage Tower – only you would be so bold. Well... you, and Jiraiya."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well, I got some nice PM's and reviews to chapter 1 in quite a short time, so I figured I could put up the second chapter today. Yes, I'm going with the traditional team 7 again - I think that an alternate take on what that could have been is interesting to explore, here, since in canon it's split up pretty quickly. It's not as if Naruto's made big enough changes that he'd be put in another team - and if anyone's good for training an assassin, it has to be Kakashi, who invented the assassination technique Chidori.

This fic won't be a bash-fest, so no excessive nonsense regarding Ino, Sakura, Sasuke or so on. Indeed, I have a tendency to make usually somewhat ineffective characters more badass; since Sakura is basically a non-entity in Torikaeru, she'll get to kick some ass here.

No pairing for now, though it won't be slash, obviously, if there's one at all.


	3. Genesis of a Team

**Chapter 3 - Genesis of a Team**

Naruto lounged on his apartment's roof, his legs dangling down over the edge as he distractedly watched the clouds sail by in the sky, and considered his next course of action. Though a number of different plans were still on-going, there had to be more that he could do right now.

He'd be faced with Kakashi's bell test again, this morning. It was almost nostalgic, thinking back on the first time he'd done it (and the repeat, a few years later) and how amateurish he'd really acted. Granted, he was hardly an Elite Jōnin right this moment, but he was no slouch either. It would be interesting to test out his stealth skills against one of the true elites, especially given that he wouldn't be wearing his best suit and tools for the job, and he wasn't nearly agile enough to really be a serious threat.

Getting back in shape was, however, not his main concern. That would happen soon enough, with proper training. Going overboard right now would just destroy him, he wasn't developed enough to deal with it, so he focused his efforts elsewhere. Thankfully, there were no such limitations on focusing his chakra control, a far more important skill, as far as assassinations went; people really underestimated how very little strength was really needed to end a life.

"Man, this handwriting's like a medical ninja's with a bottle of sake down the hatch," Naruto muttered in exasperation as he stored away the fūinjutsu scrolls he'd been deciphering – he couldn't very well leave them up here for anyone to find, after ll. He wasn't having much more luck with their contents, but at least he was slowly dissecting the scribbles until they matched legible text, which would probably be helpful.

He'd really only gotten into the Sealing Arts _after_ the Fourth Shinobi World War; he'd been interested in figuring out the Kyūbi's seal, not to mention all the other ones he'd come across, and with a relative period of peace in the foreseeable future, he'd decided to, for once, dedicate some time to actual studying (Sakura had been, unsurprisingly, amazed.) Unfortunately, without Jiraiya to be a teacher, he didn't really have access to a master in the field, and he'd had to muddle along on his own; it didn't help that a lot of the village's records were destroyed in Nagato's attack. Thankfully, neither of those limitations were present – not anymore.

"Yo."

Naruto looked up in surprise, dropping his storage scroll to the roof. Kakashi sat in a crouch on the edge of his roof, smiling cheerily behind his ever-present mask.

"Kakashi-sensei? I'm not too late, am I?" Naruto asked, blinking. Had he been reminiscing and studying his scrolls for so long that he'd managed to miss his proper Genin exam? That would be embarrassing.

"Don't worry. You still have a while yet." Kakashi stepped onto the roof, and stretched. "I was just curious, honestly – I saw you sitting up here, and wondered what you were up to. Not planning any more nasty pranks, are you?"

Naruto laughed. "Well, I'm a shinobi now, right? I figured that I have some other things to do now, instead of entertaining the villagers." He withered under Kakashi's sceptical gaze. "Fine... I ran out of paint, so I was thinking of waiting until I get some more. I should get some money from the missions, right?"

"Hm, you'll have to pass the test first, you're aware; you didn't eat yet, right?" Kakashi asked, smiling. He glanced around to the other roofs, and then turned back to his student, talking softly. "Naruto, I was curious – about that bingo book you had, yesterday..."

"Yes...?"

"Was there a particular reason you brought it with you to the introductions? Especially such an odd one, at that. If I didn't know any better..." He glanced at Naruto sharply. "I'd think you were trying to make a point."

Naruto looked at his teacher nervously. "What do you mean, sensei?"

"I think you know what I mean." He smiled congenially, dropping down to the roof, then lookd knowingly at Naruto. "There's no crime in showing off, and I can understand your pride, but you should consider the consequences of your actions. You never know who might be watching." He smiled cheerily. "So, I would keep that book of yours at home."

Naruto wasn't terrible surprised that Kakashi had seen right through his facade. Bringing that bingo book to the meeting had been a calculated decision; he'd actually counted on Kakashi realizing what he was doing – laying some groundwork with his teammates. He was certainly not going to run into being a ninja like a complete idiot, this time. If getting along with him required matching the Uchiha's claim to an awesome family, well, that's what he'd do. A ninja uses all his tools, after all.

"I'll try to be careful," Naruto said after a while, frowning. "I hadn't thought about spies. I suppose there's a chance that Iwa might try something if they ever figured out about the Fourth, but I doubt they'd get this far into town." He sighed.

Kakashi nodded, pausing for a moment. "So... how long _have_ you known about that?"

Naruto faltered; he couldn't very well admit to how he really knew. Kakashi seemed to take his silence as an answer in itself. Naruto finally shrugged. "A while. The resemblance is a bit obvious, isn't it? I didn't really _know_ until..." He paused. "Well, until a few weeks ago, honestly." He didn't mention how he'd found out – Kakashi would probably fill in the blanks himself.

The Jōnin raised an eyebrow. "Does the Hokage know what you found out?"

"We... haven't spoken about it," Naruto said. "I hoped he'd tell me himself, sometime. Then I wouldn't need to act so oblivious about it anymore. I thought maybe he'd do so when I became a Genin, but I suppose I was mistaken." He glanced up. "You won't tell him that I know, will you?"

"Naruto..."

"Ah, c'mon, you're my sensei! Isn't there some sensei-student confidentiality or something?"

Kakashi rolled his eye. "Fancy words, for an idiot. Anyway, the Hokage's not stupid, he probably knows already. He certainly has good reasons to keep it a secret, so he would probably want to talk to you about it." He tapped Naruto on the hitai-ate. "Just keep it in here, unless you get permission to tell someone."

Naruto nodded uncertainly. "What about my team? I can't just _lie_ to them, can I?"

Kakashi smiled. "First, you'll have to pass my test, or you won't even _be _a team. After that – well, who knows? I'm sure we can figure something out."

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto smiled slightly, looking out over the village towards the Hokage Monument. "You know... Maybe you could tell me about dad, sometime. You were his student, after all."

Kakashi nodded sagely. "I will."

* * *

Nearly two hours later, Naruto sauntered onto the training ground; Sasuke and Sakura were already there. The former was studiously ignoring the latter's enthusiastic attempts at gaining his attention, and neither paid any attention to his approach.

"Hey, guys."

Sakura glanced up and nodded. "Good morning." She looked over Naruto's shoulders and frowned. "Have you seen Kakashi-sensei? I figured he'd be here early, since it's the first day..."

Naruto snorted loudly. "Early?" He shook his head mirthfully, glancing at Sasuke who leaned against a nearby tree disinterestedly. Even though he'd met his sensei just this morning – and it was definitely not the last such meeting, he figured – he was certain the man would drag out the test enormously, as always. "If the stories are true, we'll probably be waiting for a few hours."

"Whaaat?" Sakura exclaimed. "Don't be silly, Naruto! He's a Jōnin; he can't do something like that! I bet he'll just appear out of nowhere, real soon; I've seen them do that, you know." She looked Sasuke and smiled. "I'm sure he's really strong, since he gets to teach Sasuke-kun."

"Oh, brother..." Naruto sighed, glancing between the two others. "Eh, whatever, I guess I'll go find a good spot to wait, then." He walked over to one of the trees and walked straight up the side, hands in his pockets. The complete silence that fell over the clearing before he was even halfway up was quite telling, and an irrepressible grin made its way onto his face. Unfortunately, the calm wouldn't last.

"NARUTO? How the heck are you doing that?" Sakura exclaimed, staring and pointing at him. Even Sasuke paid attention, eyebrows raised as he noticed the seemingly impossible feat. Naruto stopped and turned to look at the two, managing a vaguely puzzled expression.

"What do you mean, Sakura-chan?"

"You're like... defying gravity!" Sakura said, narrowing her eyes. "I've seen Chūnin do that, sometimes – walking up walls and such – but we never learned anything like that in the academy!"

Naruto smiled, scratching the back of his head. "Ah, right... I sort of taught myself this one. It's not really hard. I'm sure you'll get it right away; you just have to concentrate chakra in your feet to stick to the bark, and then walk up. It took me a while to stop falling off, though."

"You taught... yourself?" Sakura repeated, perplexed. She smiled and balled her fist, staring at a nearby tree confidently. "If the Dead Last can do it, then I'm sure it's a piece of cake!" She walked over to the tree, concentrating briefly on gathering chakra.

"Don't overdo it, Sakura-chan; you still need energy for Kakashi-sensei's test," Naruto reminded, her. He smiled though. Getting Sakura's self-confidence up was easier than he'd thought – though his 'total idiot' reputation probably wouldn't last for very long, it was useful while it lasted. It helped that he'd picked an exercise that was perfect for her.

Sakura put a foot on the tree – and then another. On her very first try, she slowly made her way up the tree, setting herself down on a branch about fifteen feet off the ground. Sweat beaded on her brow, but she laughed victoriously. "That was awesome!"

Sasuke glanced between his two teammates, both of whom were now in the trees, and shrugged. "Pretty good, for the Dead Last and a weakling."

"Hey, don't be a prick, Uchiha!" Naruto yelled, and he winced. Insulting Sasuke was almost a reflex, he'd been so used to it for such a long time; he quickly tried to salvage the situation. "Ah, sorry, Sasuke. We're supposed to be a team, right?"

"Hn." Sasuke shrugged, staring out over the training ground. It was a few minutes later that he stood up, staring contemplatively at the tree he was leaning against. Naruto had taken his own spot on one of the branches of his own tree, and looked on with interest. Finally, the Uchiha tried to walk up the tree – and slid right off.

"A little more chakra," Naruto commented. "Otherwise you won't stick. Not too much, or you'll launch right off."

"I know," Sasuke muttered, trying again. Several attempts later, he still hadn't gotten beyond two or three steps, and stared in frustration at the tree. He sent a reproachful glare at Naruto and Sakura, but didn't comment.

"You just decided to learn this on your own?" Sakura wondered after a while, turning to Naruto. "You never paid attention in the academy..."

"Eh, the academy's boring. Ninja skills are far more exciting! I saw some Jōnin do all these cool tricks on the roof, so I decided I'd try and copy them – I've been using them to get around since forever." He grinned. "I got a lot better with chakra, even if I didn't really know any techniques – I couldn't do the _Bunshin_ until a week ago!"

Sasuke was still struggling to climb the trees, but he wasn't getting much higher than four or five steps; Naruto let him muddle on for a little longer, then decided to show a little mercy. "You're doing pretty well, Sasuke. It took me two days to get as high as you're doing, now. Maybe you should continue later, though. You might exhaust yourself."

The Uchiha muttered something uncomplimentary, and then did something that Naruto hadn't expected he was even capable of – he swallowed his pride. "What's the trick?"

"Trick?" Naruto paused. "Well, practice, of course!"

"Oh, I understand!" Sakura exclaimed suddenly. "This is a chakra control exercise, isn't it? We learned about _those _in the academy, and it said that control was much harder to train when you have lots of chakra, compared to if you have little. I don't have much, so I walked right up!" She looked at Sasuke and smiled. "It must mean that Sasuke-kun has a _lot _of chakra! Well, not that I would've doubted that..."

Sasuke nodded warily; it took him a moment, but then he sent a suspicious look at Naruto. "You took two days, eh?"

"Well, it took me longer to get to the top all the time," Naruto explained. "I didn't have anyone to tell me what to do, though." Silently, he cheered – knowing a little about their personalities really did help in getting along with his teammates, even this early. Sakura hadn't yelled at him _once_ in the last ten minutes!

"Hn." Sasuke returned to his tree, leaning against it once more. For once, Naruto realized, he actually kept an eye on his teammates, staring from under his fringe.

* * *

"Hey guys, good morning!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screeched, pointing at the lazy Jōnin and fuming. "We've been here for _hours_, waiting for you to show up!"

Kakashi smiled. "Ah, you know, I had to see the Hokage about something." He immediately glanced at Naruto, still sitting on his branch. "Along the way I remembered I'd forgotten to pick up some food, and then I…"

"Yes, yes," Naruto muttered in annoyance, striding down the tree leisurely. "Let's get the test over with, shall we?"

The Jōnin stared at his blond student for a few long moments; the casual tree walking certainly hadn't evaded his attention. Sasuke strode over to join the others, scowling. He might not have yelled about the lateness, but he certainly didn't appreciate it.

"Right." Kakashi pulled a little clock from his vest, quickly setting the alarm. "This will go off at noon."

"So, what do we have to do?" Sakura asked. Kakashi smiled, pulling something else from his pockets: two little bells. "Your task is to take these from me. Those who cannot get the bells by noon, get no lunch." He glanced at three tall tree stumps a little ways away, and nodded in their direction. "There are only two bells, so one of you will end up tied to a stump, forced to watch the others eat in front of them – and they'll be sent to the academy."

Sakura gulped; Naruto and Sasuke didn't react at all.

"You won't succeed, unless you come at me with intent to kill."

Naruto smiled viciously. "Are you sure, sensei? You'll be in danger." Granted, he hadn't taken any poisons along, or anything particularly dangerous, in general, but it was the thought that counted.

"I think you'll find that I'm a Jōnin – I can take on a few Genin." He smiled, attaching the bells to his belt and scooting back. "Remember, you have until noon. Whoever doesn't have a bell loses! Begin!"

The clearing was empty in an instant; Naruto flung himself into the bushes and immediately darted across to the next, leaving a Shadow Clone behind; it wouldn't work for very long, but it might be sufficient to distract his teacher for a few moments. Making a quick hand sign, he used _Henge_ to turn his orange-and-black attire into a mottled green – not the greatest camouflage out in the open, but it was better than nothing.

Right – plan of attack. He knew Kakashi's strategy for this little test, which allowed him to come up with some pretty good solutions; usually you didn't have such insight into the enemy's movements. Conjuring two Shadow Clones, Naruto quickly climbed into the nearest tree while sending the two others off, making sure to tone his chakra down as much as possible – a pretty tough feat, for a jinchūriki. He smiled as he considered what the Jōnin would say if he actually lost, this time around.

* * *

Naruto dropped down next to Sakura, drawing a startled gasp from the pink-haired kunoichi as she raised a kunai defensively. It took her a moment to calm down. "Ah, it's just you… Wait, when did you change clothes?"

He put his finger to his lips, glancing around himself. "Sakura-chan… we should find Sasuke," Naruto whispered. "Kakashi must've gone after him first; otherwise he'd already be here."

"What do you mean?" Sakura wondered aloud; the blond grabbed her arm and in one movement dumped both of them into the bushes. Thankfully, Sakura was too shocked to retaliate and Naruto quickly released her.

"Silence!" he said softly as Sakura prepared to scream. He drew three shuriken, glancing around the area carefully. He made sure to keep one hand on the ground at all times, remembering one of Kakashi's favoured techniques all too well: Digging underground. "Sakura – you probably have the best chakra control out of all of us; can you sense where Kakashi-sensei is?"

Sakura blinked uncertainly, frowning as she wiped the dust off her arms. "I haven't learned anything like that, idiot. We went to the same academy, remember?"

Naruto sighed. He should've realized that he was dealing with this early Sakura again, who barely knew anything yet. "Right, well, then we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. When I say run, you should head north. I'll meet you along the way. We'll go to Sasuke together, from there." He gestured behind him. "I'll make a diversion in the other direction."

"What did you mean, meet you _there_? You're already here! How's going the other way going to help?"

The clone only smiled. "Don't question it, go!"

Thankfully, she did. Jumping out of the bushes with as much stumbling and noise as he could manage, it didn't take long for Kakashi to find him – the one-eyed Jōnin appeared in an instant, smiling cheerfully. Naruto raised a kunai before him, amused at how very similar this was to what he remembered from the first time around.

"You know, I thought you had this stealth thing figured out, but I guess you're just a bit dim." Kakashi said, gazing lazily at his new target.

The Shadow Clone growled, pointing in outrage. "You take that back!"

"And you were doing so well…" Kakashi said mournfully, rummaging through his bag. After a few moments, he retrieved a very familiar book. "You can attack me now, if you wish. You won't hit me, you know."

"Fighting you was never my intention, Kakashi-sensei," he declared with a smile, stabbing himself with his kunai. Sakura was long gone; he'd done his job. He popped away in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Naruto jerked upright as two clones popped, nearly simultaneously. Sakura was heading his way. Sasuke hadn't listened to a word the clone had to say, unfortunately, and it had popped itself in frustration. Stretching from his prolonged uncomfortable position up in the tree, the real Naruto quickly ran in Sakura's direction; he'd have to intercept her, at least. Hopefully Kakashi hadn't gotten to her, yet.

While he was waiting to hear back from the clones he'd sent after his teammates, he'd made more – many more – and they were now spread all across the forest. Using Henge to turn into twigs or logs or other unimpressive objects, they'd serve as decoys, and surveillance. If necessary the clones would make for a great diversion from his true position, as they resembled his real self quite a bit as far as chakra went, and if Kakashi popped any, the real version would immediately know where the Jōnin was. Actually, abusing his Shadow Clone technique had been one of the first reliable assassination techniques he'd ever developed, back in his previous life. Barely any skill required.

"Sakura!" Naruto said, stepping out from behind the trees. She looked shocked at his sudden appearance, but that could probably be attributed to his attire – he was actually blending in, at least a little. He idly wondered why he only ever saw Gai and Lee dress in something entirely green (even if an obnoxious shade) given that they lived right in the middle of a forest. He could only really imagine the Chūnin flak jackets, and those were probably too bright to serve as camouflage.

"How did you do that?" Sakura asked, her eyes wide. She glanced back where she came from. "You were just there, and now…"

"Later – we'll need to find Sasuke, now." The mention of her crush diverted Sakura's attention away from Naruto's sudden appearance; explaining his Shadow Clones and how he'd managed to get that particular technique, would take way too long. "Come, he's northwest of us."

Sakura quickly followed Naruto, trying to follow his movements; she didn't even question how he'd located their other team member. Taking extra care to avoid detection, Naruto darted from tree to tree, sticking to the shadows and avoided disturbing the leaves and branches around them. Sakura had to fend off quite a few of them as they whipped back and forth by her passage, and she grumbled in annoyance. Thankfully, Kakashi didn't appear, and they emerged from the copse of trees into the next clearing. Right next to Sasuke, buried up to his neck in the ground.

Naruto winced as Sakura screeched, quickly walking over to Sasuke, and frowning. "Can you move at all?"

"…I don't need your help." Sasuke muttered, trying to look away. Naruto remembered this - it was just like Kakashi had trapped him the first time around. It figured, given that he'd gone off his own, just like then. He really needed to figure out a way to get rid of that attitude - perhaps lending assistance would be a good step.

"I think I have something that might be helpful here, hold on…" Rummaging through a pile of small papers that he had stashed in his pockets, Naruto finally retrieved a rather crudely drawn, but very complex symbol imprinted on thick paper. "This should work, I think."

"What's that?" Sakura wondered, looking around nervously, though Kakashi seemed to keep his distance. Naruto suspected he was simply keeping an eye on them, for now. He placed his seal next to Sasuke's scowling head, feeding chakra into the intricate symbol until it shimmered with a soft blue glow. Sakura stepped back in surprise as it gave off a spark.

Naruto laughed nervously. "Don't worry, it's just fūinjutsu. It's the 'Soft Solid' sealing technique, I finished it a few days ago. It's supposed to turn the earth to liquid around it, so we'll see if it works." He smirked as he gingerly tapped the ground and found that it gave way; it felt almost like quicksand, though the seal's only affected a small area. "Now, Sasuke, grab my hand."

It took two pulls with all his strength until Naruto managed to drag Sasuke out; the ground hardened again almost immediately, the little seal he'd used sputtering as its chakra charge ran out, and it destabilized. That one was certainly not reusable, as it crumbled. Naruto frowned briefly as he watched it happen. He really needed to get some proper sealing paper again, but he'd need to get Jiraiya's help for that – or the Third's.

"How did _you_ of all people learn the Sealing Arts?" Sasuke asked after a few moments, as he wiped the last of the dirt from his clothes. "It's one of the most difficult ninja disciplines there is."

Naruto didn't respond immediately, gazing up at the sun. "Let's talk about that another time. We only have about half an hour left, if even that much, to complete the test. What are we going to do about the bells?" He glanced between Sakura and Sasuke with an expression that he hoped didn't expose the cackling manipulator he felt like. "I mean, Kakashi-sensei took down Sasuke, so he has to be too strong for any one of us on our own…"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, leaning against a tree. "You want to work together? There are only two bells…"

"We'll decide who gets one afterwards," Naruto declared airily. "If none of us get a bell, what's the point?"

"Hn." Sasuke frowned, looking back to the burned-out seal. "Dead Last… how many of those do you have?"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Next chapter has the end of the Bell Test, and Naruto gets his first response to one of his letters. Meanwhile he has to make sure he keeps his budding team from self-destructing, and keeps an eye out for an old pervert with sealing skills.

We get our first bit of Fūinjutsu/Sealing here - nothing major, of course, but then again nobody else is even using the things beyond Tenten. It won't be too long before Jiraiya makes an appearance, and Naruto's already planning another solo mission to get rid of a future threat. Still, not everything can be solved with killing (even if in Naruto's world, it is a popular method.)


	4. Faceoff

**Chapter 4 - Speaking to a Kage**

"You really should've hidden better, I'm afraid," Kakashi said jovially, as he popped up right behind her. Sakura jumped back in shock, grasping for one of her kunai, but it was too late. For a moment she looked confusedly around herself – then she slumped to the ground. Kakashi sighed and stretched his neck.

"So easily felled by a simple genjutsu, how unfortunate," Kakashi said softly, shaking his head. Honestly, he had to say, none of his students had _really _impressed him, this year. Sasuke, as expected, had shown aptitude for Taijutsu and high-powered fire jutsu. He was perhaps a little better than your average Uchiha was at his age, but there weren't many to compare him to, anymore. Naruto – well, he knew how to hide, that was true enough. Stealing from the Hokage did indicate at least some proficiency as far as that went, he supposed.

Still, even with Naruto's Shadow Clone trick which allowed Sakura to escape, the three had gone their separate ways once more, and each of their individual attacks had been cut short without much of a hassle. Waiting for them to arrive for another go was, as it turned out, rather boring, and he quickly found himself engrossed in his book once more. It looked like this would be another fail year – well, nobody would be surprised, at least.

Sakura stirred, and Kakashi looked up. Was she actually fighting the genjutsu? It was about time; she'd been under for a few minutes, and it wasn't terribly complex. Unfortunately, aside from the brief twitches, nothing happened. How disappointing.

Kakashi ducked suddenly, a foot crossing through where his head had just been. Sasuke landed heavily but he turned on a dime, ready for another try. If his kick had connected it could've done some serious damage, Kakashi realized. There was a reason that he was the rookie of the year.

"Well, it's about time you got back," the Jōnin said airily, smiling. Sasuke got into a Taijutsu stance, his arm straightened out before him, and he sneered. Kakashi obliged him by taking his own stance; Sasuke was good enough that he actually had to pay a little attention. "Ready for another round, then?"

"Last time was a fluke."

Kakashi smirked. Oh, this was precious. "Well, we'll see about that-" Kakashi stepped aside in the blink of an eye. Naruto blundered past, almost toppling over his feet, though he managed to stop himself before he hit the ground. Twisting around he moved to Sakura's side, frowning.

Well, that made the complete set. Kakashi smiled, slipping his book back in his bag. "I see that I have to pay attention. Attacking together, then? Remember that there are only two bells."

Sasuke and Naruto nodded; Sakura worked herself to her feet, smiling devilishly. "You'd better watch out, Kakashi-sensei; you're going down!"

The Uchiha stepped back from his two teammates, forming a hand sign, and Kakashi blanched the instant he recognized it. _"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

That – wasn't possible. Naruto could know it - the Hokage has said something about that the Shadow Clone technique - but only because of his incredible chakra reserves could he pull it off. Kakashi gaped in astonishment as the Uchiha did the same. "...Sasuke, not even you have the chakra capacity for something like _that_! You could die!" He blinked as Naruto formed the same hand sign – and with a series of pops, he was now facing seven students. Six of them had identical manic grins. "Wait..."

"Now!"

Kakashi only had enough time to duck and spin halfway before he was forced to block a vicious punch aimed directly at his face with the back of his hand. The hit came courtesy of Sakura; of the seven people he'd been facing, only she had been anything more than a clone, as she took a sharp hit in retaliation. It had been a distraction – and a successful one.

Sasuke jumped out from behind Sakura and delivered a devastating dropkick that only barely missed his head, and Kakashi was forced to duck another, when Naruto tried to attack from behind. Eight more clones attempted to join the close combat, and the Jōnin finally had enough: The fight was getting awfully messy. He flipped backwards over and away from the throng, landing barely three feet from where he started. "Now we're talking! Let's see if you can keep that up!"

Naruto formed a hand seal. _"Fūinjutsu: Activate!"_

The ground vanished, that's the only way Kakashi could describe it – from one moment to the next the soil turned from rock solid to a soggy mud-like texture, and he sunk down to his waist before he even managed to get a grip. Two flying kicks were headed directly towards him, and he couldn't pull off an Earth move in such a short time: Not one that wouldn't maim his students, at least. As a last ditch effort he switched himself out via _Kawarimi_, appearing a few feet above his students' heads on a thick branch. A small log had taken his place, and took the beating.

Well, _that_ had certainly been creative. Sasuke and Sakura dusted themselves off as several of Naruto's clones vanished, as the real one muttered something unintelligible. Kakashi had to give it to hem - tricking him into a melee just to get him to a specific trapped spot on the battlefield, that was a pretty good plan for academy students. Using _seals_ of all things to make a trap, now that was just ridiculous for that level. He didn't know many shinobi who even learned fūinjutsu beyond explosive and storage applications – and certainly nothing quite this sophisticated before they were even Genin. Minato-sensei, great as he'd become, hadn't really started specializing until well into Chūnin or Jōnin rank.

"Mission complete!" Naruto exclaimed as he looked up, smiling widely. Kakashi's glanced down at his belt in surprise, and found the two little bells that had been safely kept there were missing. Judging from the frayed edges on what remained of the cord, they had been ripped right off. When had they managed that? Thinking about who and when, he heard his alarm going off in the distance. It was noon.

The test was over – and he'd lost the bells. They'd _done it._

* * *

"Well, I must admit, this is a surprise," Kakashi muttered soberly as he dropped down from his branch and landed besides Sasuke. "You know that nobody's ever managed to take the bells before? Touch them, sure – but you're the first to actually steal them away. You should feel proud."

"That was such an awesome plan, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, giggling. "It worked perfectly!"

"Hn." Sasuke shrugged, glancing at Naruto, who was beaming like the sun; he wasn't faking it either, given that beating Kakashi, even at a rather silly game like this, was quite the accomplishment.

"So... where are the bells?" The Jōnin in question wondered. "You did keep them, right…?"

"Ah, I forgot!" Naruto exclaimed, kicking the ground a few times. About ten seconds passed before there was a response, as a hand burst from the earth, quickly followed by a second one. Sakura stepped back with a disturbed frown as a half-dead Shadow Clone dragged itself out onto dry land from a pit of liquefied earth, breathing harshly. The seal paper on the front of his jacket sizzled and sputtered out, and the clone sighed in relief. In one hand he held a long stalk of reed, the other had the bells. The real Naruto rubbed the back of his head and tried to look bashful. "Sorry about that, clone…"

The clone scowled, waving his makeshift breathing tube around. "Next time, do this yourself, Boss! Do you have any idea how hard using this thing is with weak lungs? I feel like I've been running for hours on end! You're lucky I even had the presence of mind to snatch the bells!"

"Don't whine," The real Naruto murmured, grabbing the bells and winking. "I don't want to deal with all that sand up my nose, you know. Yech! That's why I have you clones!"

The fake Naruto sighed. "I'm you, you idiot! You'll remember that _anyway._"

Naruto ignored the annoyed replica, presenting the spoils of victory to the others. "Well, here they are, then. Hope you don't mind that technically it was a Shadow Clone that got them, Kakashi-sensei..." He sent a foul look to his other self, who stuck out his tongue.

"No, no, that's alright."

Honestly, Naruto felt like dancing; it had taken ages to trick Kakashi, the first time around, and it didn't help that Kakashi got progressively better over those years, too. It had been a vicious cycle, but now he'd broken it! Of course, that probably meant that training would be twice as hard...

"So... you have the bells, now." Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Which of you three's going back to the Academy, then?" He turned to look at each in turn, ultimately gazing straight at Sakura. "Well, let's hear your take."

She hesitated, glancing between Sasuke and Naruto. For a moment her gaze lingered on the latter, and she looked decidedly troubled. Finally she looked down. "I suppose it would have to be me, then... I did the least out of all of us."

"That's not true, Sakura-chan!" Naruto declared heatedly, turning to her. "You put the seals on the ground, when you acted like you fainted – you were the key to the whole plan! If anyone shouldn't go on it should be me – all I did was make a lot of clones, and I don't think any of them hit anything!"

Sasuke sighed, shaking his head. "You make the seal, too. It worked."

Naruto gaped for a moment – had the Uchiha just said something _positive_ about him? It seemed Kakashi was similarly surprised, glancing between his three students. Then, he relaxed smiling widely. "Well… you pass."

"What!" Sakura exclaimed, while Sasuke just sniffed, though a thin smile made it onto his face too.

"The test was never about getting the bells," Naruto observed, recalling with amusement the first time they'd had this conversation. For one, he'd been a lot hungrier at this time. "Real missions aren't usually solo – they're group missions, for a full team, which never has just two members. Getting two bells was a way of splitting us up, nothing more."

"You are correct." Kakashi said. "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are _worse_ than trash."He tapped Naruto on the head and smirked. "You actually remembered the question that your sensei put forward, right? Think before you act, and you'll go far."

Naruto nodded solemnly, then grinned. "Who wants to get some ramen to celebrate?"

Sasuke sighed; Sakura just rolled her eyes. Still they didn't say no. Naruto smirked – maybe he should've tried being awesome the first time around. Yes – he'd actually managed to take what had originally been a reluctant teaming up which involved being tied to a stump and denied food, and turned it into a genuine group victory. Take that, destiny!

Kakashi put his hands in his pockets, nodding proudly. "You will make an excellent team. It'll take time, but I think we'll get you to the top."

"…Sensei?"

Kakashi blinked, glancing at Sakura in confusion. "Yes? What is it?"

"I was just thinking about something you said. How did you know the question that Iruka-sensei put to us?" She frowned. "That was _way_ before you arrived, wasn't it?"

Kakashi laughed nervously. "Um… the road of life happened to pass by your classroom?"

"SENSEI!"

* * *

"Hey, old man," Naruto said as he waved lazily, passing by Konohamaru with barely a glance. The little boy pouted at being ignored but didn't comment, just staring as the new arrival stopped in front of his grandfather's desk with narrowed eyes.

"I'm glad to see you, Naruto - just a moment," the Hokage said, glancing at the other people in the room in turn. "Ebisu, you can take care of things for a little while, right?"

"O- Of course, Hokage-sama!" The baffled Jōnin said, bowing slightly as he took Konohamaru along. A gesture of the Third later, the two ANBU that were waiting at the door vanished as well. Naruto sighed and shook his head, sinking into the comfortable chair he'd almost forgotten – Tsunade had thrown it out.

The Hokage just looked at him for a while, and Naruto couldn't help but fidget a little – that serious look wasn't one he saw too often on the Third, and it'd been many years since they'd really been in the same room, even if the old man didn't know as much.

"I assume you have some idea of why I requested your presence. I was visited by your Jōnin-sensei, this morning." The old man walked over to the window, staring outside dispassionately. "He had some interesting things to tell me. Can you guess what those were?"

Well, this wasn't much of a surprise. "We spoke, before the test. I'm sure it was about that."

"True." The Hokage turned and smiled slightly. "He told me you had discovered a secret of the village. You know about your father, about Minato."

Naruto shrugged. "Kakashi-sensei already warned me that I shouldn't tell people – but it's hard! I'm sure you can understand, right?" He pointed behind him. "I mean, look at Konohamaru. He's always shouting that he's family of yours."

"I see your point," the Third said, picking up a photograph from the side-table that held his crystal ball. A very familiar photograph – Tsunade had given him that same one, many years ago – a photo of the Fourth. "The original reason that I made your parentage a secret, even from yourself, related to your parents' fame. There are many who would like to make a posthumous attack on the Fourth, and who better to attack than his son, then? Keeping your identity a secret has greatly reduced the danger you were in, over the years. I chose to keep you in the dark, as well, after a long debate with myself on the topic. I admit that I feared you would ruin the secrecy in a moment of carelessness." He looked at the silent, attentive Naruto with a frown. "You understand, right?"

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

The Third seemed briefly surprised. "You seem oddly respectful, today. You're calling me by my title, now?"

"Well, I'm a shinobi, since today," Naruto said evasively. "I need to show respect, right? Otherwise I'll just get in trouble with Kakashi-sensei."

The Hokage didn't respond to that, putting the photo back where it came from, and turning to the new Genin. "There's more that I wanted to mention, of course. Kakashi reported that you showed some remarkable skills in your exam. _Kage Bunshin_, some Taijutsu well above academy-level, and a seal that he hadn't seen before, and suspected was of your own design. These are not skills you just come by from scratch. I think I know how you learned a few of them, though…" He smiled knowingly. "Will you confess, or should I tell you?"

Crap. Naruto froze, thinking back to everything he'd done over the last days – where had he slipped up? The Hokage definitely couldn't know about Mizuki or Gatō – he wouldn't be smiling, then. He couldn't know about the letters, either, since he'd sent those days ago, and they shouldn't make terribly much sense to any interceptors anyway. That left his visits to the tower. He'd been spotted, for the first time in ages. Damn, he really was worse than he was used to, then.

"Eh…" Naruto started nervously, eyes wide. He supposed there was no changing it, now; if he'd get in trouble for his forays, he'd have to figure out alternative ways to achieve his goals. "I suppose… Um, I'm not in trouble, am I?"

"That depends on what you did," the Hokage said neutrally. There was no smile left now, and a shiver ran down his back as Naruto looked away. Damn, he'd been sneaking in and out of places for years, stealing when required, and it was the old man was the first to actually make him regret it, even a little.

"Alright, then – I admit, I took scrolls from the tower." The thunderous expression on the Hokage's face did nothing to settle his worries, and Naruto wondered for a moment if he'd misjudged him, after all. The Hokage stepped forward, and for a brief second it seemed as if the old man was going to hit him – then his hand came down and ruffled through the blond's hair.

The Hokage's lips twitched, and he shook his head mirthfully, as the oppressive atmosphere vanished. "Oh, Naruto. What are we going to do with you."

"You're not… mad?"

"Let me tell you a story, Naruto." The Third sat back in his chair, and took up his pipe. "Long ago, there was a Genin of Konoha, who had quite a bit of interesting in the Sealing Arts. He'd been on his team for only a year or two, but he always butted heads with one of his teammates, so he decided he would impress them. Of course, in his infinite wisdom, he believed that his simple seals were not enough – the really interesting ones had to be complex, he reasoned. So… he decided that he would get a scroll with a high-ranked seal."

Naruto blinked. He didn't know this one, which was quite a surprise.

"Sneaking into the tower was the easy part. He managed to get in, but the window closed behind him due to the wind, and he couldn't open it again without making noise. Thus, he was forced to find another way out. Ever the opportunist, he took the most promising scrolls he could and walked right out of the front gate."

"What…? How could _that_ happen?" Naruto exclaimed, enthralled. "Where were the guards?"

"The Hokage and his guards kept a close eye on the boy, of course. They'd been following him ever since the window slammed closed. Instead of arresting the thief, they were interested what he would do with the scrolls; whether he was going to sell them to some other nation or pass them on to someone else, perhaps. Instead, they discovered, the Genin was _learning _from them. A few days later the scrolls were returned to the tower; the boy never even realized that he'd been discovered, and put back the scrolls when he was done with them."

"So…" Naruto said, slowly. "You're not mad, because I'm like _that_ Genin? Because I put the forbidden scroll back after I'd finished?"

"Well, I must admit that if you'd just run in there and took it from under my nose, I'd have acted rather differently." The Hokage said, and Naruto smirked; he knew exactly what would've happened, after all. "Fortunately, you returned the scroll before anyone noticed it was missing. I spotted you when you returned it, though, and decided to keep silent. The whole thing made me rather nostalgic."

"So… what gave me away?" Naruto leaned forward, frowning. "I was suppressing my chakra, and I was wearing the proper clothing; I'm pretty sure I didn't make any noise, since the ANBU didn't show up…"

"I admit, your infiltration was rather professional," the Hokage said. "Very good for an academy student – I'm sure there are some Jōnin that would have trouble matching your performance. Still, you shouldn't underestimate a Kage. We are considered the strongest of a village, after all."

"Yes, but where did I screw up? Something must've tipped you off."

The Hokage smiled slightly. "Well, if I told you, you wouldn't have the chance to find the flaw yourself. Perhaps your sensei would be willing to help you out. I must say, I'd never really pegged you for the stealthy type, given the kind of clothes you're inclined to wear."

"Orange is the perfect colour for stealth," Naruto said boisterously. He recalled what Sakura had said in another life, the first time she'd fallen for his stealthy approach. "If you can stalk someone in a bright orange jumpsuit, you can do it in _anything._" Realizing how that sounded, he smiled nervously. "Just on missions, of course."

"A strange sense in fashion and apparently a stalker – you have more in common with the Genin in my story than you probably realize." The Hokage smiled, stepping back to his chair and sighing in relief.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in contemplation. "Who was it? Who is that Genin you spoke about?"

"His name's Jiraiya. You might have heard of him."

"Pervy Sage?" Naruto blurted. Well, that explained why he'd never heard that story, then. The white-haired lecher probably didn't even know – or he was ashamed he'd been caught like that. At the Hokage's sharp look after his exclamation, Naruto raised his hands in surrender. "That's just what I heard a few Chūnin call him, I swear! He's the white-haired guy who is away so often and sometimes goes to the women's bathhouses, right?"

"…Probably." The third rubbed his temples wearily. "Naruto… I understand that you want to learn some obscure skills, and I even have an inkling as to why, but you will need a teacher for something like that. Taking scrolls on fūinjutsu from the tower won't be enough. Experimenting on seals that you don't really know anything about can be _very_ dangerous."

"I am careful!" Naruto exclaimed, affronted.

"I have no doubt you are, but you are only a Genin. In two weeks time, at my request, Jiraiya will be returning to Konoha. He can serve as your teacher in fūinjutsu, if that is truly a field you have chosen to pursue. I'll have to find a way to persuade him, but I'm sure it's doable."

Naruto practically cheered, though he knew he shouldn't let on that he knew the Sannin too much. In this time, they'd never actually met, after all. It'd be interesting to have him as a teacher again, Naruto thought. Though, he'd have to put up with his antics again. Another question occurred to him, then. "Um, old man, how can he be my teacher, when Kakashi-sensei already is?"

"Jiraiya will probably only instruct you in the evenings, or other periods where you are free from your duties," the Third said. "You're still a Genin, after all – you'll have to do that training on top of your usual missions and exercises."

"Aw, man…" Naruto pouted, standing up. "Well, I suppose I'll go prepare for tomorrow, then. We're going to do D-Class missions. I can barely wait." He sighed. "I bet it'll be something lame, like painting a fence or catching a cat." He waved lazily as he headed for the door. "I guess I'll hear about it when Perv- I mean, Jiraiya arrives in town. Later, gramps."

"Naruto," the Hokage said softly, and the Genin looked back. "If you plan on taking any more scrolls – don't get arrested. The punishment for theft is more aggravating than painting fences, I assure you."

Naruto laughed. "They'll never catch me!"

* * *

"Welcome home, Boss!"

Naruto sighed, sinking down on his bed. "How far did you get?"

"About halfway. We've got time, don't we?" He put down the scroll he'd been reading, putting aside his transcribed copy. That one was actually intelligible. "I figure it'll take us about three days to go through them all, even with three clones on the job."

"Hmm, speed it up a little, will you? I just came back from the old man, and he's a hell of a lot more attentive than I figured." Naruto rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Caught on my very first attempt at nicking something from the tower? Pathetic."

"Really should've expected it, you know – we had like twenty-five more years of experience on the old body, and didn't have to contend with having to fend _it _offanymore." The clone sat back at his small desk and frowned. "You know, talking to myself like this is becoming a bad habit."

"Whatever." Thinking back to his old skills – actual, badass skills – he felt a pang of loss. Going back in time, however useful and potentially world-changing it was, had some bad sides. As it turned out, having two identical people in the world at the same time just wasn't possible for long periods. He had to deal with his Genin body once again, with all the annoyances that came with it. Not the least of those was the Kyūbi – he'd lived with either control of its chakra or its total absence for so many years, it was strange even thinking of himself as a jinchūriki again.

That was another thing that he'd changed, in this time, even if he didn't originally intend it. By taking out Mizuki before the scroll incident occurred, he'd prevented himself from being told about his status. Although the Hokage knew that he was aware of his parentage, he hadn't said a word about being a jinchūriki, about being the Kyūbi's container. There was a good chance that particular genie remained in the bottle, for now.

Getting up, Naruto wandered over to his plants and quickly gave a few of them a little more water, as their leaves looked a little droopy. Two of the little cacti seemed to be doing great, even so very far from Suna; he'd have to keep an eye on them. It was unfortunate that his original self didn't keep any particularly useful plants – he'd had to gather new samples from all across Konoha, and it would take weeks before the first proper poisons could be derived from what little he had so far. Getting a mission to Kumo or Kiri was really what he needed – there were countless rare plants there that he'd love to try his hand at, and sending a few dozen clones to harvest was no problem for him.

The coming weeks were in flux. It really depended on how much he'd changed things, what he'd end up doing. It was possible that Kabuto would finally be an open target, and he would definitely take advantage of that. He was already working on dealing with Orochimaru, though it was unlikely that he'd be able to finish him off by himself. Still, there were plenty of badass shinobi around to point in his direction, and this time nobody would have to die. There was even a slim chance he could get in contact with a certain ninja well before they ever became a problem in the first place.

As for Akatsuki, well, that was a more difficult problem, given how much of a mess taking care of them had been the first time. Aside from the obvious issue of avoiding their interest until he was strong again – right now, they'd take the Kyūbi in an instant – he also needed to make sure that their avenues of attack on some of the other jinchūriki were cut off early. He couldn't manage that on his own either, especially since half of them were rather anti-social, so he actually did need allies. Tobi hadn't even stepped to the forefront yet, at this time, and Pein was not yet ready to assault Konoha as he'd done before, so it wasn't an immediate concern.

He had time. Not a lot, but at the very least _some_, and he'd abuse it. Getting back in shape and building up his skill in sealing would have to be his priorities, right now. If he wanted to mean anything to the other jinchūriki, especially Gaara, he'd have to get a hell of a lot better in a short time. Beating Tobi without inciting another bloody war would probably require him to surpass his father's skill – and his mother's knowledge. Rather a hefty challenge, even on the best of days.

"Yo, Boss, you've got mail."

Naruto looked up, blinking, as his clone gestured at the window. Naruto didn't know what he was looking at, at first. There was a letter there, brown and somewhat rumpled, true. Sprinkled around it was a thick layer of dirt, even covering the paper itself, partially. Who'd sent him an envelope of _dirt?_ His heart raced as he imagined for a moment it came from Gaara.

Gingerly removing the letter without spreading the dust across his bedroom, Naruto was suddenly struck by the way it glittered – it wasn't like usual dirt, instead it was…

"He wrote back," Naruto said, eyes wide. "He actually _wrote back. _Holy crap!" He held up a handful of the dirt, letting it spill through his fingers. "This - it's gold dust. Did he deliver it himself? Can he actually control this from such a huge distance? He can't know who I am, I never said - so did he somehow transport the response to the same place I sent it from? Amazing!"

He quickly scanned the letter, brushing the last of the gold dust onto his windowsill – maybe he could get a pretty penny for it, after all. The missive wasn't long, and rather unfriendly, but it was a lot more than he had honestly expected. It was also rather terrifying, given what he'd read about the man who wrote it. The man didn't know who he was - just the pseudonym, and that he was from Konoha, but that was quite enough.

The Fourth Kazekage wanted to meet him.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I expect some figured I'd keep the Hokage or Naruto in the dark regarding what they knew here - considering it a broken cliché, perhaps. Naruto has rather larger secrets than nicking a scroll, honestly. ;)

Next chapter we'll get real!Naruto's excursion to Suna, while his dutiful clones take the hefty task of D-class missions, and eating ramen. Of course, nobody expected that Genin would come face to face with a bandit who knows a thing or two about the ninja arts - especially without Kakashi, who is suddenly nowhere to be found!


	5. Aspirations

**Chapter 5 - Aspirations of a Genin**

Making his way across the roofs of Konoha at considerable speed, Naruto thought about his new objectives, with this upset. Receiving a letter from the Kazekage was crazy; he'd expected an instant rejection or no response at all. He figured he had to try, and evidently it had paid off. He'd have to take advantage of this potential boon quickly, but telling the truth was right out: Aside from wanting to avoid the question of _how_ he'd managed this feat, interrogators were rather good at extracting information and the Kazekage would doubtlessly take advantage of it. The man's arrogance, after all, was practically legendary.

Still, there was secondary reasons to pursue this. One advantage of a detour to Suna was that he could meet Gaara, though; although it was unlikely that he'd be quite sane this point, meeting a fellow jinchūriki might help him, a little. For another, he could consider paying a visit to the local Fūinjutsu storage. He smiled at that thought. Although he'd seen some of Suna's scrolls last time around, when Gaara was the Kazekage, he'd never gotten into the really good stuff. He still wasn't sure if it had been out of respect or if he'd just been terrified Gaara would find out.

If he was going to pull that off – at all – he'd need to train; he'd need some way of getting the hell out of the way if the Kazekage tried anything, which was a tall order as is, and he'd also need to figure out a way to keep himself visible back home, as well. He couldn't just leave Konoha behind and hoped his team and Hokage to keep a blind eye.

"_Kage Bunshin_!" He exclaimed, and six clones popped into being. Naruto turned them and took each of them in. "I need an alibi, and I can't let _anyone_ find out. The coming days should only contain D-Class missions, so this shouldn't be too hard, but I won't be around to get you guys new chakra." He reached into his jacket and smirked. "Luckily, I still knew how to make _this._"

"That's a Summoning Scroll!" One of the clones said, then widened his eyes. "Oh, right! We used those to get more nature chakra, for Sage Mode. Haven't used those in forever, though..."

"They were only necessary when Kyūbi was still around – this one can't really keep nature chakra, but it should suffice for regular Shadow Clones," Naruto reminded. He grimaced, then. "I should make more, given that I've got the fox back. Perhaps the toads will notice those seals, but I doubt it; I'm pretty sure I've dissected them down to the basics-. I'll give you a good stack of the things, that already contain prepared Shadow Clone – you need to fill them in real quick on what's going on, but they should persist long enough that I'll make it back before they run out. Just... be careful you don't pop too many."

"Alright, Boss," the first clone said, saluting. "We'll do the all-important job of hunting cats and painting fences!" He snickered. "I'll probably prank the Uchiha bastard too, hope you don't mind!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, handing over the seals and frowning. "Keep yourselves out of too much suspicion – no stealing scrolls until I get back, and avoid getting Kakashi-sensei interested. I will be here to switch out you for a few more days until I leave, but then you're on your own."

As he left the group behind, Naruto tried to ignore the worry that crept up on him.

* * *

"Naruto, where have you been?" Sakura asked, fuming. "You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago!"

The blond walked over and glanced around. "Kakashi-sensei's not even with you yet – or Sasuke, for that matter." He rolled his eyes. "Lighten up, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura scowled. "That doesn't mean you have to be late too, you know."

Naruto shrugged, slumping down against the bridge and retrieving a little notepad from his breast pocket. The paper was orange, of course, and Sakura groaned. She'd hoped that the black clothing he'd worn at the Genin exam would stick around, but they had been quickly ditched for the current attire – unfortunately even this new outfit still had a lot of the unsightly orange that he'd been wearing for years, which just got on her nerves. Naruto retrieved a pencil and immediately started sketching, muttering under his breath.

It took a few minutes, but finally Sakura's curiosity got the better of her. "What are you doing now?"

Naruto glanced up, blinking. "Oh, you mean this? I'm working on a new fūinjutsu technique, and I was just sketching some ideas for the seal. Maybe I can show you the finished project in a few days; I don't think it's going to be a very complex one."

"It'll take _days?_" Sakura asked, blinking.

"Well, I'm designing them, not just making them," Naruto pointed out helpfully. "The one I used yesterday, the 'Soft Solid' one, was my own design after all. I'm thinking of making a couple nice ones and going to the patent office with them. I'm no expert, but I think I could make a bit of money with that, so I can fix up my apartment."

"How did you even get started with this?" Sakura wondered, trying to get a glance at the notes. "I've vaguely heard of the subject, but the academy certainly had nothing about it in the library." She frowned. "In fact, I think Iruka explicitly mentioned it was one of the most difficult fields of study that existed, and most ninja know no more than explosive tags."

"Yes, well, that's what they say," Naruto answered idly. "Here, I can show you a few of the basics, as I know them. You kind of have to get a feel for them, but you're smart." He smiled as he retrieved a small stack of seals from his pocket. "These are the same as yesterday."

Sakura picked up one of the seals and studied it – it was relatively simple overall, though she had no idea what any of the bits and pieces meant. The symbol was circular in shape with sequences of unintelligible symbols making up the circumference. It also had two spokes, one crossing north to south, the second from the centre down to the southwest; both were fairly straight lines with symbols seemingly drawn right on top of them. The whole thing made her think of a clock. Three larger squiggles marked the end of each of the three lines where they touched the edge, each different in shape.

Naruto tapped the side of the tag. "The circle design is pretty commonly used – it's basically for stability, and it's one of only a few ways to make something like a temporary seal that you can actually trigger at will – this one's technically not a numbered seal since it's not complex enough to require it, but it would be a two elements seal, if I did." He frowned. "I tend to avoid odd-numbered seals myself – call it superstition. Anyway, there's other shapes for permanent seals – but as you can understand, they're not used that often, given the risks involved. You _can_ make a permanent seal with only the circular element, but you need to be pretty good."

"You actually know what you're talking about, don't you?" Sakura said, eyebrow raised. "Imagine the day when the Dead Last is lecturing me."

Naruto shook his head and smiled as he tapped the edge at the north. "This big symbol at the top represents the earth element that's involved – basically it transforms chakra into another nature, thereby allowing the seal to affect the soil. Seals aren't always used like that, but it's definitely useful in this one."

"Chakra ... nature?" Sakura wondered. Naruto didn't answer her, but he smiled slightly at the question.

He pointed to the south element next, to another symbol. "Here, at the other pole, I placed the representation of water – since that's what I wanted the soil to act like. It's smaller than the north one since it's the secondary rather than primary focus, but it works well enough, and it's probably the second-most stable bond in the whole thing." He hesitated. "I think talking about chakra bonds goes a bit far, for now. Well, there's the third shape over there. This could really have gone in multiple directions, but I picked the one that was least volatile overall, as it's all about instability rather than stability, and I don't want to make it explode. A little less effect, but that's the cost of safety."

Sakura blinked. "You know a _lot_ about this."

"Well, I do want to be awesome, so I have to, right?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "The whole complex generates the Doton chakra – that is, earth - that's already unstable as it flows through the soil, after which it turns it into Suiton chakra, or water. What you end up with is really, really unstable ground!" He smirked proudly. "It has some bugs, but it's already good enough to allow a properly prepared ninja to dig underground and hide there, without even having the Doton chakra nature!"

"Chakra nature, you already said that just now... I think Iruka-sensei mentioned it," Sakura recalled with a frown. She looked at the seal in contemplation. "What's this supposed to _say_, anyway? It looks like a bunch of scribbles to me."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sakura, the description I just gave was pretty much as elementary as I could put it. I really don't want to get into the script used or the kind of interactions you have to remember. This seal's pretty simple, and I've already found two in scrolls from the - library, that are using some of the same methods as I am. I know I'm in the right direction. I know what I'm doing."

"So it seems," Kakashi said. Sakura glanced up in surprise, though Naruto didn't even flinch. Right above them, holding his little book, sat their sensei. "Sounds pretty good, Naruto. I might try out that seal of yours, later. Maybe I can let you know what you can improve."

"Sure, sensei!" Naruto replied, getting up. "Hey, Sasuke, ready to come down?"

"Hn." Sasuke flipped to the ground from the branch he'd bee sitting on, and landed softly, his hands in his pockets.

Sakura shook her head in confusion. "You were all here already?"

"Nah, Sasuke arrived about five minutes ago," Naruto offered. "He just didn't say anything, and he can be pretty quiet. Kakashi-sensei's been around since before I arrived, probably reading that book of his."

Sakura didn't miss the surprised look from their sensei as he too jumped down to the ground and stashed his literature in one of his pockets. "You managed to keep an eye out while making notes and talking, Naruto?"

"Eh, it was easy enough. You weren't actually trying really hard to keep hidden." He got up, waving his notebook. "When I finish this seal, I think you'll want to look at it, sensei. It's supposed to enhance the lightning element, so combining it with someone who has that nature would probably be awesome. It should work well with your assassination techniques, too."

Kakashi smiled. "Well, until your _other _teacher gets in town, I guess I'll offer my services. Now, though, we have to do something else." He turned to the other two Genin. "Since we're all here now, and not that late-"

"Why _are _you so early, anyway?" Naruto cut him off, frowning.

"Early? He's half an hour later, dimwit!" Sakura shook her head in a huff. "Honestly."

"Right, that's what I said, early." Naruto blinked at the silver-haired Jōnin. "You're legendary for being at least two hours tardy for practically everything, so what gives? Did you lose a bet with someone over our passing the exam, or something?"

Kakashi shrugged, looking pointedly at the blond for a moment. "I have some obligations this afternoon, so we'll have to make sure to have our task done before I leave. Now, we'll be starting with D-Class missions like all Genin teams – I managed to get a nice and easy one to start you off with, so we should get right to it."

"What's this 'nice and easy' mission?" Sakura wondered.

"Cleaning the Hokage Monument," Kakashi answered, sighing. "Someone's seen fit to paint it with bright colours, and the civilians want it back to normal again."

"Damn it, Naruto!" Sakura called, smacking him over the head.

* * *

Wearing a _Henge_ that made him look like a rather spindly ninja of unclear rank, though certainly a Chūnin to avoid obvious questions, Naruto sprang from tree to tree on his way southwest. He'd spent quite a bit longer on his preparations than he'd anticipated, working to train himself in at least using some of his Ninjutsu again, even if not at full power. Eleven days he'd lost, but that was alright, since he had plenty of time yet before the invasion that happened last time. The Kazekage certainly wouldn't be expecting him to appear quickly; he'd set no specific date or time on his letter, after all. Eleven days, plus at least two or three to get to Suna, and then the way back... he was spending too much time on this, when he could be doing other things. Well, at least it was important.

The forest would only stretch partway to Suna, and trekking through the desert really wasn't something he looked forward to, but he'd deal with it. He'd done it before, and at least he'd have some time to get some stamina training in. Getting out of Konoha had been annoyingly easy: The city wasn't on high alert, so most of the safeguards were lax at best, and Naruto knew them intimately as he'd participated in getting them back to normal, after the war. On the other side of the wall he relaxed a little – even if he was detected, here, he wouldn't instantly be pegged as a deserter. Naruto realized in some annoyance that he probably counted as such, now: Meeting with a foreign Kage without permission wasn't really something you got easily forgiven for.

He'd used a bland pseudonym in his letter – doubtlessly the only reason that the Kazekage had even responded was that he'd mentioned several things not generally known by the public, regarding both his history and several secret projects Gaara had uncovered and stopped, in the first few years of his reign. His phrasing has been ambiguous, but someone with the kind of knowledge that the Kazekage had would doubtlessly recognize it immediately. It got him invited, but it did raise a disturbing possibility; the Kazekage might simply want him out of the way, permanently. It was lucky, he figured, that he'd sent the letter from his apartment - fairly central in the city - rather than somewhere more obscure, or he'd have missed the response entirely; since he lived above what was presently essentially an abandoned building only occasionally hired out for temporary stays, he could be anyone. That was good.

Suna – the last time around, it wasn't until Gaara became Kazekage that he really got to know much of anything about the place, so his knowledge of this particular time was, at best, spotty. The history books were inaccurate about the capabilities of the various shinobi forces between the Third and Fourth Shinobi World Wars, especially since a large amount of records was destroyed in the latter conflict. Still – he'd read up on the people, he knew some of what to expect. There were some people that even this nation respected.

He'd put up the strongest Henge he could – he certainly had the chakra to pull off a pretty impressive one, after all – and turned into one of the only people he knew how to imitate, and whose mere presence would ensure that the Kazekage didn't try anything _too_ crazy. His reputation preceded him, after all.

"Hope you forgive me for this one, sensei…"

* * *

Naruto's clone yawned as he wiped the last of his paint off the Fourth's giant stone nose, and moved to his eyes – there was perhaps a certain irony in him being assigned to take care of cleaning his own father's part of the Hokage Monument. He looked wistfully at the rest of the cliff – there, sometime in the future, would've been Granny Tsunade's face, Kakashi's face – mask and all – and finally Konohamaru's face, all grown up, though it hadn't yet been carved when he left. The Fifth Shinobi World War was just gearing up at the time, and he himself had beep deep behind enemy lines, so he hadn't had the opportunity to stop by the village. Not before this opportunity had come along.

Sitting down on the wooden platform that'd been lowered from the top of the Monument to allow for easy cleaning, Naruto thought about the past. He supposed it was the future, now. The first thing that struck him as strange, really, that he couldn't mesh the current Kakashi – disinterested, porn-reading, perpetually late – with the future one, who hadn't changed all that much. Perhaps it was the Hokage Robes that he'd worn that did it, or the starkly serious moods that had become more common since he took up the hat. Naruto admitted that he'd been a little jealous when the Sixth Hokage was announced, but Kakashi was the obvious choice, having already been in the running for Fifth as well. He himself had been rather on the young side, and had understood the hesitance, even if he had gained considerable admiration for his involvement in the fight against Madara and Akatsuki.

Konohamaru's election – that had been different. Naruto himself had been in the running for Seventh Hokage – Kakashi was getting tired of his role after quite a few years in the seat, and finally some of the new promising shinobi were getting to appropriate ages, so he'd decided to pass on the title. The silver-haired Hokage, at the time, had been dispassionate about his reasoning for electing Konohamaru instead of him – Naruto admitted, he'd felt a little betrayed – but he had explained himself, later. Naruto, he'd argued vehemently, was too valuable to stick behind a desk; he was still one of the Leaf's strongest shinobi, and feared internationally since the Fourth Shinobi World War. Perhaps after hostilities were over, and the Fifth war was at an end, he could become Hokage – much like his father – but right now he was needed.

His appearance on the front-lines had done wonders for maintaining Konoha's security, as few were willing to take on the Yellow Flash's son – that secret had been publically revealed over a decade earlier. Naruto had to admit that he couldn't have been present at more than half the conflicts that Konoha got involved with, if he also needed to be around the village all the time. Kakashi had probably been right, as far as where his best place was. Konohamaru, of course, had promised that he could be the Eight Hokage, in time; though that wouldn't be coming true, perhaps thing would be different, now. Perhaps he could be the one to appoint Konohamaru as his successor, now. Perhaps he'd take the seat after the old man, if he could prevent his death. Fifth Hokage Naruto, jinchūriki protector of the Leaf – right next to his father on the Monument. Yeah, that sounded good.

Unlike his young years, which he'd now reclaimed, Naruto had ended up being a specialist in assassination and infiltration missions, even before Kakashi's belief that he was at that time what he himself had been: One of Konoha's shining beacons, who kept everyone else from doing stupid things, and who showed the strength of the village to the outside world. It was unfortunate that peace had not persisted as it had for a few years after the war, but the shinobi world, it seemed, was not yet ready for change. Had Nagato been right, after all?

The exact moment he'd decided that if war couldn't be stopped by brute force, it might be via traditional shinobi values, he wasn't sure; perhaps it'd been the result of reading many a book on the philosophy of war, when he'd finally gotten around to slowing down a little. He'd shifted his focus from being a loud Ninjutsu spammer towards a style that involved stealth, careful planning and efficiency.

He supposed that a particular reason he'd enjoyed it so much, was the challenge: He knew he could kick ass with major attacks if he really needed to, and he'd shown it in the war, but it wasn't exactly the most intelligent of roles. Infiltration, in particular, was a challenging and highly entertaining type of mission that he'd been completely unfit for: He'd never even thought about acting and worn his emotions on his sleeves, so going in the complete opposite direction, trying to place himself into the skin of another shinobi, was a whole new experience. After dozens of C-Class missions – quite embarrassing, for someone who was effectively a Jōnin, even if he'd never officially gotten his promotion – he'd finally gotten his skill to acceptable levels, and things had spiralled from there.

The B-Rank infiltration missions, it turned out, where a _lot _of fun – his wit was tested to its fullest, and he'd never really had an opportunity to put his pranking habits into action for a practical goal. If you could prank someone with a pot of paint, after all, you could do the same with a kunai. Rather more permanent and messy, but you couldn't argue with results. After a long string of successes, even more so than C-Rank – he got bored, and inevitably went out of character, back then – he was finally assigned his first solo A-Rank… and then, he'd fallen in love with his profession all over again.

"Did you fall asleep?"

Naruto looked up and blinked at his sensei, his broad grin of nostalgia slipping from his face. Kakashi was standing lazily on the Fourth's forehead, sticking to the stone with chakra. He raised an eyebrow. "You've been staring into space for a few minutes, now."

"Not really, Kakashi-sensei. I was just thinking about," Think quick, Naruto… "Dad." He tapped the stone and sighed.

Kakashi glanced at Sasuke and Sakura, both of whom were cleaning the other faces; the latter glanced curiously at them, but then returned to her work, scowling slightly. "Really?"

"Well, I was sort of thinking about the future, too," Naruto admitted, shrugging. "I mean, it'd be really cool if I could learn his techniques, but the first time I use any of them, people will figure out the whole family thing… Plus, I don't want to feel like I'm ripping him off, y'know…"

"I'm sure that it'll be fine," Kakashi said with a smile. "There are plenty of other things to train too, you know. I'm sure when you're a Chūnin or Jōnin, you can look up those special techniques. Your sealing's already getting pretty interesting, maybe you should consider concentrating on that? The village hasn't had a Seal Master around for a while, not since Jiraiya went and became a hermit – you could be a pretty great one. You _are _an Uzumaki after all; it's in your blood."

"I suppose." He glanced at his teammates and frowned. He learned over to Kakashi. "What do I do about this team thing? Sasuke and I couldn't stand each other in Academy – I'm sure we'll get in a fight sooner or later. And Sakura, she's… " He shuddered. "Scary."

"Don't worry, you'll do fine," Kakashi said, smiling. "Next week, or perhaps the day after, we'll go do a C-rank mission. That should allow you to spend a little time with your team beyond just the few hours of a boring mission." He glanced at Sasuke. "Perhaps you'll be invaluable to have around."

"Well, at least I can pack all the food into scrolls," Naruto muttered. He suddenly perked up, eyes bright. "I just remembered – I wanted to ask you about something. You know the seal I'm working on, right, sensei?"

"Yes," Kakashi answered lazily. "What about it?'

"Well…" He hesitated. "I need to know how a lightning element attack forms, so I can make sure the seal doesn't overload, but I don't know anyone with a lightning nature, really, aside from you…" He stared with large puppy-eyes at his teacher. "Could you show me, please?"

Kakashi looked at Naruto for a long moment, and then nodded. "It would be a good introduction to Ninjutsu techniques, I suppose. A bit early, perhaps, but I'm sure the others won't mind." He glanced over the statue and aside from a few smudges, the cleaning was almost finished. Kakashi flashed through a quick succession of hand seals, and the entirety of Naruto's bucket of water shot onto the statue, rinsing it clean in one quick movement; a pretty lame use of a Suiton jutsu, but it worked. He turned to the other two team members and pointed up. "Sasuke, Sakura – follow us."

Naruto quickly scampered up along the sheer rocks, and Kakashi didn't look surprised - but he definitely stopped and stared for a moment when both Sakura and Sasuke made their way up the rocks in the same manner, the latter with some stumbling; a few moments later they were standing next to their teacher with slight grins as he studied them each in turn.

"Okay – I missed something. Since when do academy students learn control exercises?"

Sakura looked away. "We didn't, actually we learned from…" She paused and frowned. "Naruto."

At Kakashi inquiring gaze, the blond smiled widely. "I learned how to do it ages ago, and yesterday you were hours late, so I got really, really _bored!_ I showed Sakura-chan and the – I mean, Sasuke how to do it. They were far quicker than me with getting it to work, though." He shook his head in disappointment.

"You taught two Genin the tree-walking exercise in a day?" Kakashi blinked. "Who's supposed to be the sensei here?"

Naruto scowled, looking vaguely affronted. "They're my teammates, right? Maybe it was against whatever silly rules you have for Genin teams, but…" He smiled quite widely, then. "Those who abandon their team are worse than trash, right sensei?"

Kakashi shook his head tiredly. "Moving on… Naruto, if you want to learn anything from this, maybe you should pay close attention now," He turned around to one of the few logs that were placed up here above the Monument, for training purposes. They were actually Gai's, Naruto knew, but he and Kakashi would probably make up for the destruction of one of them with a friendly crazy game, or something.

"Soon you will be learning Ninjutsu, beyond your usual attacks. Sasuke already knows several Katon techniques – fire – but there are other natures, and you will likely be learning some of them as you become Chūnin." Kakashi shrugged idly. "That doesn't mean one should ignore training before that time, though."

"I remember this," Sakura volunteered. "There are five elements, right? Fire, Water…"

"Katon, Suiton, Fūton, Doton, Raiton," Kakashi rattled off. "Also known as Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Lightning. There are others, but we'll leave that for now. These five elements form the basis for elemental techniques. Personally I can use techniques from each element for other reasons; most ninja only use one or two elements. I have an affinity for lightning techniques, though, which is why the technique I created is of that element."

"Creating techniques – is it similar to making seals?" Naruto wondered, though he already knew the answer. His practice with the various superior versions of the Rasengan was quite instructive in that regard.

"Although there are many things to take into account when making your own technique, they're not quite on the same level as fūinjutsu – aside from extremely powerful techniques, of course, like my own." He smirked. "There is always a risk of injuring yourself when working with particularly volatile combinations of shape and element – but this is all far too complex for you." Kakashi shook his head wearily.

"I get it," Naruto offered enthusiastically, and all he got was a disbelieving stare from Sasuke.

Kakashi tapped on the tree stump, and grasped his wrist. "When you use an elemental technique, your chakra is transformed into another element – in this regard it's similar to your seal, Naruto. Transforming chakra into an element you have affinity with is far easier, which is the reason shinobi tend to focus on those."

Lightning began crackling around Kakashi's outstretched hand, the sizzling and crackling sound amplifying until it became clear where the technique received its name: the _Chidori_ or One Thousand Birds formed as a layer of electricity sparked across his skin. With a cry he swung it forward into the log, blasting a hole in it the size of someone's head.

"That is my original technique," Kakashi said, turning around proudly.

"Is there a Shape Transformation element?" Naruto wondered, his eyes peeled. He'd never actually inquired about this before – after getting one shoved through his chest, he'd rather lost his enthusiasm for the move. Now, though, that hadn't actually happened yet – and wouldn't, if he had anything to say about it. "Elemental Transformation is obvious, but it did seem awfully straight-edged – could you veer off with one of those, or is it pretty much locked in its trajectory after you start your attack?"

Kakashi looked like a deer in headlights. "…Why do you think that?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Well, it makes sense, right? If you're only changing it to be a cover of your hand without a specific shape to maintain, it'll lose cohesion at the first sign of…" He stopped, and blinked. "Oh. That's not really Genin stuff, is it?"

Sakura looked with some amazement at Naruto, and even Sasuke was listening in. "I don't even know where I'd look for something like that… What _have_ you been reading, Naruto?"

"Ah," Naruto rubbed the back of his head, glancing at Kakashi. "Stuff."

"Perhaps it's smarter if you read Genin-level books, instead of Jōnin-level," Kakashi pointed out, shaking his head. Sasuke looked just about ready to explode with questions, and Naruto was fairly sure what he'd ask, after all of this – he'd lower himself to asking the Dead Last for books, at this point in time. The arrogance was there, but it wasn't quite insane yet. Kakashi continued, oblivious to the interplay. "It's really quite impressive, deducing the weakness of my technique from seeing it only a single time. You're not secretly an Uchiha under there, are you?"

Naruto smiled widely. "I'm just that awesome! Now, are we going to train that awesome Ninjutsu or not?"

"Of course not. I'm not an idiot."

* * *

"I wish to speak to the Kazekage."

The guard gulped, staring at the imposing shinobi before him, his chakra almost tangible in the air. Slung on his back was a large scroll, partially covered by a mop of white hair, and his eyes were sharp. The guard composed himself quickly. "Did Kazekage-Sama know you were coming, Jiraiya of the Sannin?"

"He knows," Naruto answered, glad to see his disguise was holding up. "Tell him that I bring two crows. He will confirm my invitation."

"Yes… please wait here."

Naruto smiled, realizing that he'd missed even Suna's harsh weather, a little; annoying as it often was, he'd spent quite a bit of time here with Gaara and his family, and it had always been a blast.

Now – Now he'd be walking into the belly of the beast, though. Daiki, Fourth Kazekage of Suna, was a dangerous man, and Naruto would have to be lying flat to his face the entire time. Well – he did always enjoy infiltration missions, and this counted. A-Rank, perhaps? S-Rank? A small grin made it onto his face as he saw the shinobi returning. This would be _fun._

* * *

**Author's Note:** More info on the past/future, some interaction with Kakashi and the team, plus we finally get to Suna now, and the infiltration. Next chapter will pick up with the clone division about two days after the real Naruto left, while the latter lies his pants off.

Yondaime Kazekage _Daiki_ : Comes from Japanese _大 __(dai)_ "large, great" combined with _輝 __(ki)_ "radiance", _樹 __(ki)_ "tree" or _貴 __(ki)_ "valuable, noble". For those who know a bit about him, this will be an obvious pick.


	6. Desert Deals

**Chapter 6 -Deals in the Desert**

Naruto couldn't stop a slight smile as he walked through the streets of Suna, as he'd done many times in the past, or future. Though most of the people here looked somewhat wary of him, there were some who greeted the supposed Jiraiya with genuine smiles and friendly nods. Getting into his role took a little mental gymnastics, though the few years he'd spent alongside the Toad Sage while they travelled throughout the Land of Fire and surrounding nations certainly gave him plenty to work with. Certainly a lot more than he usually would've had for an infiltration mission. Of course, most of that was the more carefree, lecherous Jiraiya. For a meeting with the Kazekage, even he would've gotten serious.

Naruto had infiltrated Suna, once – with Gaara's knowledge he'd gotten close to a suspected information broker who was thought to be in contact with foreign spies, and he'd followed the man for the better part of three days before he'd finally struck gold. That had been early in his career, and in retrospect he'd drawn out things for far too long.

"Were your border guards sleeping on the job?" Naruto asked after a while as he wandered after his guide, his eyes roving over the oddly bulbous buildings that were one of the characteristic features of the village, the sandstone walls being another. "Given your surprise at my arrival, I take it that you didn't spot me until I was right at the wall. Are the border guards getting rusty?"

Admittedly, Naruto had noticed a handful of scouts along the way here, but they hadn't spotted the Genin. The Land of Wind was pretty huge and empty, especially in peacetime, so he'd simply taken some of the lesser-used trails, taking him rather close. It also helped make him seem more formidable than he really was, when in reality he was simply taking advantage of a security flaw that wasn't fixed until Gaara came to power. Of course, the village itself was very effectively defensible, as if to make up for the situation outside it. Located in a rocky valley, it was already solidly protected from attack by any significant force and surrounded by plenty of ammunition for powerful Doton techniques.

The Chūnin didn't answer his query, of course – he probably wouldn't even have done it if Naruto had appeared as himself. Suna's shinobi had always had a pretty strong grasp on discipline, and the fact that Gaara's father was said to be even stricter than his son certainly wouldn't make them any more laid-back. A guest of the Hokage they'd definitely treat with respect, at least, and he reminded himself of his mission. Two small scrolls in his pocket would make all the difference, here – if he could prevent this particular piece of history, he'd be going above and beyond anything he'd done so far.

Killing Mizuki and Gatō were minor things: The former wouldn't have had much more influence anyway, after he was taken in; Gatō's troops might still be a problem in the future, but they were at least leader-less now, and unlikely to go after Wave, which hardly had money to spare. Getting closer to his team, to make sure that things didn't degenerate into the mess that it'd been the last time around, was more of a personal goal than anything. Although it was perhaps silly to think of it this way, he felt obligated to fulfil his promises to the Sakura, Kakashi and even Sasuke that he'd left behind.

Instead of bringing him back, he'd make sure that Sasuke never had a reason to leave – and at the very least a friend to rely on; one that wouldn't just take a _Chidori_ to the chest, at that. He'd make sure that he'd fulfil his promise to Sakura, and keep him around.

He'd promised Kakashi – time and time again – that he'd be the Leaf's sword and shield and take care of the nasty things in the shadows, but that he'd never lose his spirit. Kakashi had jokingly ordered him to do that when he first donned the hat of the Hokage, and though it was said in jest at the time, Naruto had smiled and nodded.

Sasuke – before the disastrous end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, in which the Uchiha Clan was finally destroyed, they'd met once more on the battlefield. He'd had tears in his eyes – in his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan eyes. There, he'd made the last promise. A promise to the last Uchiha.

Naruto glanced up and blinked as he realized that he'd been ignoring his guide for the last few minutes, far too wrapped up in his memories. Marshalling his thoughts he focussed on the here and now, leaving the rest for later. The two finally approached the huge spherical building that stood at the centre of Suna. Naruto only remembered seeing it himself in the days that Gaara already ruled here, so spotting decorations and colourful banners was rather odd. His friend had never cared much for aesthetics, really.

A tall man stood with his arms crossed before the entrance, wearing a loose fitting blue kimono with a white jacket and an all too familiar hat. This was him, then: One of the few Kages he'd never met in person, due to his early death. The leader of Suna looked somewhere between stern and curious, his eyes clear and calculating. Naruto smiled hesitantly, leaving the Chūnin escort behind.

It was a popular misconception that one could sense someone's chakra, and determine their identity through that alone, perpetuated particularly among those who have little to do with actual shinobi. Naruto had spent far too much time with oblivious targets to really take that idea seriously any longer, and he was glad about it. Yes, a Hyūga would probably figure things out pretty quickly, and expose the fraud. Yes, a chakra sensor could potentially determine such things as elemental affinity which might differ from a target's. Yes, demonic chakra was rather noticeably different from the normal variety, and he'd have to make sure not to use any of it. All of that didn't change the fact that the vast majority of shinobi – Genin or Kage alike – couldn't do much more than gauge the relative amount of chakra that someone was unconsciously releasing through their tenketsu, without using some awfully obvious jutsu.

Naruto didn't have to worry about how much chakra he had – being a jinchūriki and an Uzumaki made his reserves slightly ludicrous. Even when using dozens of Shadow Clones at a time, his main body remained responsive enough to be trouble for almost any shinobi. Disguising that much chakra required a _lot_ of mental fortitude, though, and he'd found that it was time well-spent to train such attributes. For one, it also helped him with planning. He'd never be among the best – he had always been a bit of an idiot when it came to a lot of things, and he didn't think that was technically a curable condition – but usually simpler plans worked just as well.

His great amount of chakra had one very helpful characteristic: It was impossible to make more chakra than one normally could, to imitate another shinobi, but on the other hand chakra control would allow one to decrease the amount released subconsciously. In other words, if he had enough time he could imitate practically anyone's chakra amount, while Sakura would never be able to approach even half of the more powerful shinobi. (Though, Naruto remembered, with the kind of skills she'd learned from Tsunade, she didn't need that.) Thankfully he's spent more than enough time with Jiraiya to have a pretty accurate idea of his chakra reserves, and he could match that easily enough.

"Kazekage-dono," he muttered at last, bowing slightly.

"Jiraiya of Konoha, one of the notorious _Sannin_,"the Kazekage responded. His gaze was sharp and judging as he took in the white-haired shinobi in front of him, glancing at the large scroll bound to his back for a brief moment. He gestured to the door. "Please, come in."

Naruto followed, appreciating the differences between the current building and the one that Gaara had maintained while he was the Kazekage – there were a lot more pictures and paintings around, this time, and there was a vaguely golden sheen to many things. That was probably courtesy of the Kazekage's manipulation of gold dust, which he'd used to respond to his letter. He was led to a sizable conference room that was presently empty, and a shiver ran down Naruto's back as he realized that this was the place Gaara usually met with civilian leaders and foreign Kage, as it was easily defensible. A large round table made of sandstone dominated the middle of the room, with chairs all around it. The door closed behind him with a muffled thump.

It was then that the Kazekage turned to Naruto with narrowed eyes, raising his arm as a stream of gold dust spread around it, forming what appeared to be a glove. "The letter you sent me contained a great deal of information that is not publicly known. Has Konoha fallen so low that they would spy on their own allies?"

Naruto swallowed. "The information I gave in my message was that which I have personally found out, from sources outside this nation. There is a distinct lack of tactical information, as you might have realized. Knowing the personalities of foreign Kage is merely good business, and hardly against any laws." He smirked as the Kazekage scowled. "As you have already surmised, the message I sent was a ploy to gain an invitation. A private one, at that." He raised his hand and a spinning blue sphere formed in it in an instant; even the Kazekage would recognize the _Rasengan_. "I don't wish to get violent, but I will if I need to. You know my reputation: It's well-earned."

The Kazekage stared suspiciously for a few long moments longer. "Trickery to get a meeting, despite our nations being formal allies? Let us dispense with the pleasantries, my time is valuable. Why are you here?"

"I haven't come by order of the Hokage, if that's what you're wondering," Naruto started. "That's why I sent the letter. Though I respect him and his ability to keep secrets, there are those within the village that are less than honourable, and I would rather keep this matter from spreading too far. The Hokage has too many eyes and ears in his vicinity at all times." He put a hand in his pocket and retrieved a small scroll that he'd written himself, based on what he remembered. It contained the best information he had on the locations and identities of Oto's forces. The top was labelled by a symbol of two crows, one of the symbols he'd come to use in the wake of the Fourth Shinobi World War; few realized it was in honour of a fallen clan. He cleared his throat and offered the scroll. "A Konoha Missing-nin, my old teammate Orochimaru, is planning to assassinate you."

The Kazekage removed his hat, placing it on the table as he opened the scroll. For a time all was silent, as the man read the details with a critical eye, occasionally glancing at Naruto who had no trouble looking serious. This, too, was a critical moment. Finally, the man sighed. "So, he wishes to double-cross me?"

Naruto blinked. The only way that sentence made sense was if Orochimaru had already made an agreement. How early had the plan to take down Konoha started? It was months yet until the Chūnin Exams. He narrowed his eyes as he spotted an opening. "Konoha is not foolish. Orochimaru offered an alliance that would favour Suna; together you agreed you would take down my village. You accepted."

The Kazekage's gold dust swirled agitatedly, as he shook his head. "I placed the good of my own village first and foremost, as is my duty as Kage." He hesitated briefly, and then sighed. "So, Konoha _knows_."

Naruto would have grinned if the timing wasn't so awful. "We've known what Orochimaru was planning for some time, but recent events required intervention," he said, turning his glare at the Kage. "You were planning to break the alliance agreement with Konoha. Betrayal is a serious crime, and you will realize that something like this cannot be ignored. You may kill me, though it may be harder than you suppose, but that knowledge would not vanish. The most likely future that awaits you is filled with blood and strife. Right now, though, there is still a road away from the precipice of war."

Compared to his original plan – to secure stronger ties with the Kazekage and prevent his murder, this opened new possibilities. The man clearly had not expected Naruto to know about the would-be alliance with Orochimaru, and any element of surprise was now lost, it would seem to him. The Kazekage, if he was half as wise as Gaara turned out to be, would realize that preventing a war with Konoha was worth quite a lot. They'd required another nation to even consider an invasion, and it was doubtful Oto would go beyond its agreements and actually defend the desert nation.

"You came here to state your demands, that's what this is about," the Kazekage realized. "Is that why Sarutobi isn't the one here? He would not have the heart for solving problems via underhanded trickery, I'm certain. You wished to stop a conflict without him aware that it would ever have happened, then?"

Naruto ignored the jibe, scowling. "Cancel all agreements with Orochimaru and his shinobi, and there does not have to be a war of retaliation, this time. Right now, only a few people know about Orochimaru's plans, and two thirds of them are in this room." Naruto worriedly realized that technically _all_ of them were in this room, even if the real Jiraiya might already suspect some things. "Make up for your – _transgression_, and we will both walk away from this alive."

The Kazekage narrowed his eyes. "How can you possibly offer this? You mean to tell me that Konoha would not pursue would-be invaders? I did not think your nation would have reconsidered the consequences of treachery."

Naruto smiled. "I never said there would be no toll on this road, did I? We will return to that. Turn on Orochimaru, and Konoha will not begin a war with you. We have a quarrel with Orochimaru, as you can imagine. It takes precedence over petty squabbles over ill-planned invasions. The destruction of Oto's shinobi forces would go a long way towards repairing the damage done by your mistake."

"You are asking me to betray your own teammate?"

Naruto shrugged. "Is betraying those who would betray you so deplorable? Orochimaru will consider you a traitor, perhaps, but he won't dare to attack a Kage in his own city; not without a lot of back-up, which would start a war in itself. Conflict will erupt, of that there is no doubt: It will be with Konoha, or Oto. Choose wisely."

The Kazekage frowned, staring at the scroll for a long time. Finally he snarled and dropped it. "You spoke of a toll. What is the price of this – _peace_?"

Naruto smiled thinly. "Your son."

* * *

"Dead Last."

Naruto's clone turned, blinking. Sasuke sat few feet away, his fingers entwined as he gazed with narrowed eyes over them. A shiver ran down his back as Naruto nodded. "Hmm?"

"You've been keeping secrets," Sasuke stated. "You're better than you've let on in the academy. Why?"

"Why, what? Why didn't I play the big show-off, like you?" Naruto snorted. "You know how people treat me. It's not about something silly like playing pranks, either. As long as I was just a third-rate academy student, nobody would take notice of me, and I could study what I wished. It was the only way it could work: I don't have anyone to rely on." He stared at the Uchiha for a few moments. "I figured you would understand that."

Sasuke was silent for a few moments. "How strong are you?"

Naruto shrugged. "I never really went against anyone seriously, so I wouldn't know. Maybe we can have a little match sometimes, so you can tell me. I figure I'm stronger than Kiba, though."

Sasuke nodded and turned away just as Sakura arrived, huffing and puffing. She took a few moments to catch her breath, before glaring at Naruto. "Why did you let me run all the way here when you were both so much quicker? I had to take to the streets before I was halfway across the village!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sakura-chan, it was a _race, _that was sort of the point. A race that I won, by the way."

Sasuke scoffed, looking away. Sakura muttered something uncomplimentary as she rubbed her feet from the long run.

"Well done, all of you," Kakashi stated as he dropped down next to them; Sakura nearly jumped a hole in the air in surprise, Sasuke and Naruto just raised a hand in greeting."Naruto - I think you'll find that you tied with Sasuke. I was watching."

Naruto looked askance at Sasuke, and smirked. "Next time, you're going down!"

Kakashi shook his head. "There is clearly room for improvement, but I'm quite proud of all of you. Sasuke, you need to train more on your chakra control, as you left broken roof tiles from the village's gate all the way here." He looked sharply at the black-and-orange clad ball of energy next to him. " Naruto, you really need to keep focus better. Sakura – well, you simply need to work on your chakra exercises, since your reserves are quite small, right now. That's also why you couldn't keep up the whole way - you had to stick to the streets after you kept slipping down the walls, after all."

"I need to keep better focus?" Naruto muttered, glancing at Sasuke. "It was a race, I was keeping up with Sasuke, what's a better focus than that?"

"Perhaps if you'd thought for yourself, you would have realized that you were both taking a _detour_, and there was a quicker path to the target," Kakashi answered, smiling. "Nevertheless, I am impressed by your improvement over only a few days, at least in technique."

Naruto nodded eagerly, though he couldn't help feeling a little worried. He and his clone brethren had been alone for a few days now – getting closer to a week – and some of them were going a bit loopy; Kakashi probably hadn't connected the dots yet, but it wouldn't be much longer, now.

The _Kage Bunshin_ technique was never meant to be used as a long-term replacement clone. Extending the lifespan of existing clones by infusing them with the chakra of other ones would work for a while, but it did nothing to stop the mental decay. Shadow Clones were approximations of the original – they weren't actually people, and their ability to absorb information was limited by what the chakra used to create them could sustain. Granted, Naruto's had a _lot_ of chakra, but even his replicas had a limit – and that resulted in some peculiar behaviour.

Just yesterday, one of the clones that had been talking to Sakura had spontaneously decided to try and kiss her, and moved in – it took another clone and a sharp blow to end that particular copy's aspirations, and thankfully the girl hadn't said terribly much about the incident. The day before that, one of the longest-living clones around had decided that there wasn't any reason in waiting and decided to take down Kabuto himself; he too was stopped by the others.

This self-policing would work for a time, but sooner or later the defective clones would outnumber the regular ones. Thankfully, though there were quite a few clones that ended up focusing on one particular aspect of the original's character, some of those were good things. Two clones had gotten thoroughly engrossed in making seals, to the point where they almost didn't need to talk anymore, understanding each other's thought processes instantly; they were technically the same person, after all. A third had ended up being an academic, interested in studying and spreading information; he was the first of the clones to mess up with the team and started expounding on things he really shouldn't, but the damage was minimal.

Then, there was him. The clone that had focused on the team, to the exclusion of almost everything else. He'd promptly been chosen to continue working with them; he certainly hadn't complained. A stray thought about how strange it would be for the Boss to receive such oddly warped memories from different aspects of himself occurred to him, but the clone figured that such thoughts were better left for someone else.

"I believe that we're just about done for the day," Kakashi noted, smiling. "We'll go for another race when you've all had time to improve."

There were three nods, and Naruto saw his opening. "Kakashi-sensei? I finished that seal we talked about," he blurted suddenly, grabbing the small tube that contained it from his jacket. "Before we go... Could you take a look?" He removed a single seal and quickly handed it to his teacher.

This design was considerably more complex than the one he'd shown to Sakura, though it looked deceptively simple, due to the fact that several brust strokes were covered by others, separated only by a very thin layer of resin. It was a time-consuming process to make these, but he had half a dozen ready, and had already tested out one himself. Kakashi looked critically over the seal, glancing at Naruto with an uncomfortable level of respect. Naruto had a suspicion that the man was seeing rather someone else in his place.

"Well, we already finished today's mission, so I suppose we have a little time," Kakashi agreed. The seal quickly started to glow; he placed it on the ground and backed away.

The seal sparked into activity and there was a brief but intense electric surge through the air as little arcs crisscrossed across the soil. The sound was remarkably similar to that of Kakashi's attack, the _Chidori_, and the man smiled in recognition. Finally it died down, and the seal fell apart into little pieces, burned out.

"That looked like it worked," Kakashi muttered, glancing speculatively at Naruto. "You specifically made this for my attack, didn't you? That was too close to be a coincidence."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously. "It's just an experiment, really – I thought that it wouldn't make sense to make really generic ones, so I limited it the same way as your attack."

Kakashi nodded, grabbing a second seal from Naruto's hand and, after a moment of consideration, placing it on the back of his own. Grasping his wrist, he prepared to unleash the _Chidori; _in an instant his hand sparked alight with the full force of the attack, and then some. The Raiton chakra coated his entire forearm now, and it didn't appear to be harming him. "Incredible," he breathed, before quite suddenly the attack vanished, the last of the technique dissipating into the air. He coughed as acrid smoke spread from the burned-out seal.

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed, turning to his teammates. Both of them had been looking on with interest, and Sasuke in particular was eying the seals.

"That looked pretty cool," Sakura admitted. "Sasuke-kun, you should learn a lightning technique, then you could -"

Sasuke cut her off. "Dead Last - Naruto."

Naruto looked at the Uchiha in surprise. "Yes?"

"Make one of those for Katon, if you have the time. I'll test it for you."

Naruto's smile couldn't be wider as he nodded eagerly.

"This is an admirable first version, though there are obviously some drawbacks to this design," Kakashi commented, tapping Naruto on the head and attracting his attention. "I'd call it a C-Class seal, which is actually pretty impressive for a Genin." He gazed down with a stern look, then. "No more experimentation until your teacher arrives, alright? _Especially _no tests with your teammates. One of those seals could kill you if you don't know what you're doing."

"Yes, sensei," Naruto answered tiredly. "When is my teacher supposed to be here, anyway?"

"Just keep an eye on the bathhouses," Kakashi muttered.

* * *

"You cannot be serious!" the Kazekage exclaimed, fuming.

"Oh, don't worry, you're probably thinking of the wrong son," Naruto answered lightly, brushing his long white hair out of his face. "I am talking about the one you attempted to assassinate on several occasions."

The Kazekage glared. "Gaara. Why do you even bring this up? You know what he is." The Kazekage's gold-dust swirled around his feet in agitation. "I cannot afford to lose such a valuable asset merely for the promise of continued peace!"

"The demon is killing him," Naruto observed, and the Kazekage started. "Shukaku is slowly draining away what little sanity the boy has left, and you're aware of it; otherwise, you would never have tested him." He savoured the shock that appeared in the Kazekage's eyes at that statement. "In time, you will not have a son – you will have the One-Tail free in your village, channeled through a mindless body. It will destroy the entire village before it bothers to move on."

"So, what, you are taking him away for the safety of Suna?" the Kazekage asked. "I don't believe a word of it."

"I am a Seal Master, as you know." Naruto silently apologized for stealing the title he'd hoped to gain himself, some day. "I wish to repair the inferior seal the boy currently has. I will not, however, do this when there's a risk that he would be used as a weapon against us. As such, I would take him away from here, until such a time as our alliance is once more secure."

"Gaara cannot be controlled or reasoned with," the Kazekage said shortly.

"That is my concern, not yours. He will officially remain a shinobi of Suna, as he is now." Naruto shook his head, staring at the Kazekage. "I will not take his choices from him - I will merely remove some of yours. I know you do not consider him of a higher value than this village's safety. I have experience with jinchūriki, I know how to approach these beings. Take the offer."

Gaara's freedom from Suna's loathing, that was one thing he could make sure of, now. Yes, the Kazekage's son would still be the insane murdering bastard he'd originally been at the Chūnin Exams. Yes, he'd probably get quite upset when he realized that the one who had bargained him away from Suna was no older than himself – at least physically - and had done so under false pretenses. The presence of the Kyūbi would probably not make things any easier, either. But - it was Gaara. He understood what the boy was going through.

One thing he'd definitely make sure was that Gaara would still be a Suna nin – if he ever wanted to be Kazekage again, he'd need that. Although the job had fallen into his lap rather than it having been a life-long dream, he remembered well the long reign of the Godaime Kazekage. Under his leadership, the village had flourished. Gaara had cherished the respect that he'd gained, just like Naruto, with their service to their home villages.

Making a bargain with the Kazekage was extremely dangerous, Naruto knew, but he'd need to do it. He'd have to shoulder the burden of the consequences, as well; it was good that he had sturdy shoulders. Naruto knew that the Kazekage didn't love his son – it wasn't until his resurrection in the Fourth Shinobi World War that he'd learned of the great things that his son was capable of, or so Gaara had related to him. Only then had he shown a hint of compassion. Right now, getting the boy to Konoha was possible, because the man saw no value in his son. Perhaps, this time, reconciliation would be possible without either side being dead.

The Kazekage muttered something under his breath, shoulders slumping. "Very well, then. Gaara will go to Konoha – but only for a year. After that, he shall choose to abandon his home village entirely, or return. That, and distancing myself from Oto, is what I can give in exchange for the continued alliance."

Naruto nodded. "Then we are agreed. Where is the boy?"

The Kazekage looked away. "Find him yourself. I wash my hands of this whole affair." The man turned away and opened the door, leaving without a backwards glance.

"What a cold person," Naruto muttered, wandering out of the Kazekage's building with a deep frown. This wasn't going to end well – the Kazekage would not so easily get rid of a jinchūriki. It had been an opening shot - a bargaining chip. He hadn't expected the Kazekage to immediately accept. More likely than the man being compliant was that he saw it as an opportunity to have the Ichibi in Konoha, without needing the Chūnin Exams as an excuse. Perhaps he still intended to invade Konoha on his own, or betray him as well, and maintain the agreements with Oto.

What he needed, now, was the sensible Gaara. Without him, the Suna invasion plans would collapse. Without him, any clever trickery the Suna leader had invented would be pointless.

He rubbed his temples and groaned. Another Shadow Clone had popped, back in Konoha. He was running out, and the last few had been decidedly – odd – in terms of memories. That wasn't really new: He'd spent ten days away, once, leaving a legion of Shadow Clones behind, and by the eight they'd decided to make a giant human pyramid in the middle of town. He was running out of time, and Kakashi was getting suspicious of the increasingly erratic Naruto.

Before he went back, though, he needed to fetch Gaara without getting crushed, and he needed to find one other citizen of Suna.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Murderous Gaara before the Chunin Exams, without even the Hokage knowing about it, let alone the man he impersonated? Naruto's really getting himself into trouble, like this...

So, no Naruto vs. Kazekage fight as some inexplicably expected. It's not as if present Naruto -could- win in such a situation, barring perhaps Kyubi. We'll get to Gaara, ? and the trip back towards Konoha after this, as well as Kakashi's unmasking of the clone conspiracy. Jiraiya's also approaching Konoha, and he's as of yet oblivious that he just became a target of the Kazekage. ;)


	7. Demon's Prison

**Chapter 7 - Prison for a Demon**

Somewhere between his arrival and now, he'd gone insane. Naruto had concluded as much shortly after reaching the walls of Suna, barely capable of holding in a laugh at his successful ruse. Infiltrating the hidden village and manipulating the Kazekage were completely nutty ideas, and he'd pulled them off. Even now, dozens of carefully concealed clones were ransacking the place for anything that might be of use; if they got caught, they could simply pop out. Thus far, not one of them had caught a trace of Gaara. It seemed like he wasn't in the village at all. That only left the desert, then; he knew from the older version of Gaara that was a place he'd often go to be alone, to avoid the people.

Knowing enough about the situation had certainly helped, as his foreknowledge of the invasion plans had definitely surprised Gaara's father enough to get away with some pretty significant demands. Many things could've gone wrong; could _still_ go wrong. Changing time itself was risky business, and he'd basically been driving a _Rasengan _into history and hoping that it turned out okay. He conceded that he probably wasn't the best choice to be handling something as delicate as this, but he couldn't really look back now. He'd have to figure out a way to find Gaara, and convince him to go without alerting half the village.

Trying to find Gaara couldn't be terribly difficult. He was a jinchūriki with flimsy control of his Bijū at best, which meant a lot of nasty chakra would be emanating from the boy. (It was strange to think of Gaara as a boy, despite technically being about the same age, now. He was so used to the adult version.) Naruto fished the second scroll he'd taken from Konoha out of his pocket and studied it for a long moment. His hidden weapon. Staring out over the desert sands, he wondered what he was doing. This was Gaara's preferred element, after all. The sand was everywhere. On the flipside, that meant even the guards would be unlikely to venture out here, for fear of being slain.

Naruto flinched as a whiff of unmistakably monstrous chakra set his teeth on edge, far closer than he'd anticipated, though still well outside the village. He shivered as he stared in the direction it had come from. That had been demonic chakra, no doubt about it: Gaara's chakra. The sands shifted, and for a brief moment he thought that it would crush him right then. Naruto had the presence of mind to check his surroundings, but there was rather little to hide behind.

He cleared his throat. "Gaara of the Desert."

The vast billowing clouds slowly moved aside, seemingly out of sight, but Naruto was well aware that Gaara was surrounding him; that was a favoured tactic of his, after all. Thankfully, this particular move would no longer work on him, now that he knew the _Rasengan. _He'd blast right out of the prison before it could properly form.

"Have you come to try and end my existence?" The voice was ragged and sharp; Naruto winced at the erratic tone, too. This was Gaara _before._ He had to remember that.

"Gaara of the Desert. I come from the Yondaime Kazekage," Naruto started, hesitating as he remembered the poor relationship that father and son had, at least in this time. "He has agreed to let you spend a year in another location, in my home town. It is already done, we have to leave immediately."

The red-haired boy scoffed, the sand now churning below his feet, and tendrils of swirling sand rose up from the soil. Naruto forced himself to stand his ground. Finally, the boy spoke again. "So, Father sent you? Did he want you to kill me, too?" His voice suddenly had a rough quality to it, and Naruto wondered what he was getting himself into. He hadn't come here to fight Shukaku again. Gaara narrowed his eyes. "I will not let you end my existence!"

"I haven't come to kill you," Naruto explained, but Gaara didn't react. Suddenly he approached, a vicious smile stretched across his face as his sand poured closer from all directions. Crap. Without rules or regulations in place to limit him, Gaara had few reasons to suppress the Ichibi. Naruto needed to remember to get in contact with Kankurō and Temari as soon as this mess was cleared up. He sighed. "You know, I really didn't want it to come to this. We've barely even met."

"I don't know you. You mean to kill me; all that come here want to," Gaara said. "To live I must kill and _you_ are my prey!"  
Naruto shook his head as Gaara's sand suddenly shot forward. Three clones popped into existence, throwing themselves at Gaara while the real Naruto backed away. "Gaara, I don't want to kill you, or hurt you. Calm down. Don't let _it_ control your mind." He grunted as the sand crushed one of his clones, and he gained its uncomfortable memories. "If you don't control it, I'll have to get serious." He wiped a lock of white hair out of his face, getting ready to evade the sand once more.

Gaara glared madly at him, Shukaku lurking barely below the surface, now. The creature's demonic chakra inundated the air, and the Kyūbi sensed it, he knew; the seal on his stomach seared painfully as the Bijū attempted to infuse demonic chakra into him, to keep him alive against this kind of foe. The fact that he wasn't currently enraged was the only reason it hadn't taken control as it had that first time, on the bridge in Wave. Well, this was going to get messy.

Naruto took a firm hold of his emergency scroll and yanked it open. This was one of the few seals he hadn't designed himself; it was too far beyond his skills, even now. He'd copied from Pervy Sage's notes, years after the man had passed away in the fight against Nagato. It was also one of the few seals he'd actually memorized, at least of this complexity.

"_Fūinjutsu_," he tried as he began to pour chakra into the seal, but Gaara crashed through his clones, approaching with unrestrained madness as the desert came alive around him; Naruto had to defend himself, interrupting the process. Shukaku wasn't going to give him the time he needed to place the seal; it instinctively knew what he was attempting, it seemed. Gaara didn't normally move in a fight. His whole style was designed to take advantage of his ultimate sand defence. He was already using his arms to cover his chest, blocking off the seal that held the tailed beast in its container.

Calling on the Kyūbi's chakra would be a bad idea. Suna sentries were doubtlessly used to the Ichibi's emanations, but adding another demon, a worse one, would attract a lot of attention. That was assuming there were no ANBU around from Suna, which he expected was the case. Still, that wasn't the only option he had. Raising his hand, a glowing blue ball of chakra spun into existence.

* * *

"Calling the Council of Clones to order!"

It had become something of a habit, over the last few days; a varied collection of Shadow Clones sat, stood, or hung around the apartment, most of them uninterested in what was going on. Getting together to discuss how to deal with serving as the real Naruto's decoys, the clones had quickly agreed that the sanest of them should be the one to call things to order, though that was relative. None of them were unaffected by their unusually long existence.

One of the clones coughed. "Is it me or are there fewer of us?"

"Well, we had to pop six just because they got up to hare-brained schemes. Well, more so than usual," another answered. "That certainly didn't help. Then there was that ramen-hunt, of course. How many of us are left, anyway? Two dozen?"

"Damn it people, we're running out of me!" another clone exclaimed. At the weird looks he received from the others, he rolled his eyes. "We're getting awfully close to zero… how are we going to stick around until the Boss returns?"

"We probably only have a day or two to go," the first clone argued, lounging lazily against the wall. "We could tell Kakashi-sensei that we're sick. It'd be less troublesome than actually doing missions. I'm sure one or two days wouldn't hurt."

The second clone stared. "…When did you turn into Shikamaru? It's creepy!" The clone just snorted, looking away. "Damn it, now we've got a Naruto who's obsessed with the Nara… that's just not natural. Half of us are going loopy now that we're unravelling on the edges, and even the ones with the most chakra don't have enough for two days; not without regenerating it, too. We need a solution."

"We're even running out of scrolls. I'd suggest we moderate our chakra usage, that way we might be able to last. Keep the last scrolls just in case; they're our emergency plan. That counts for you too, seal nerds."

The two blinked as they looked up from their scrolls. "What were you saying?"

The oldest clone groaned, just as there was a knock on the door. "Naruto? Are you at home?"

All of the replicas froze. They all knew what this meant. Kakashi-sensei was at the door. Not good, definitely not good. "I'm here, Kakashi-sensei!" yelled the youngest clone, who had already spent the better part of the day with Team 7. "I'll be right out!"

"Can I come in?"

"It's a mess, don't worry about it. I'll be _right out!"_ The clone stumbled to the door, evading several of its brethren as they quickly dove behind couches, into the kitchen, or right out the window. Soon, the room seemed empty, even if several of the clones were rather poorly concealed. Opening the door gingerly, the remaining Naruto clone stared out uncertainly.

Kakashi looked, in a word, awful. Not only were his clothes in disarray and blood-spattered, but he was missing an entire sleeve.  
"Is something wrong?" Naruto knew for sure that Kakashi had never come to his door like this; not the last time around. "What's with the blood?"

Kakashi grimaced. "There's been an attack. Sasuke's been injured."

* * *

Naruto's breath hitched – for a long, long moment he could've sworn his heart stopped beating. He barely managed to avoid the next wave of sand and smashed a _Rasengan_ squarely into the wave after that, dispersing it. "..._What?" _he blurted.

Gaara didn't say anything, a wicked smile on his face as he approached again, doubtlessly under the Ichibi's influence. Naruto avoided getting too close, too wrapped up in thought to think of something to say.

Something was wrong, very wrong, in Konoha. Naruto had just received the memories from one of his remaining Shadow Clones, and they hadn't been pretty: Kakashi was hurt, and so was Sasuke. The Jōnin hadn't told the clone anything about what happened, though. Naruto felt a chill run down his back as he considered that. He was certain that at this point in time nothing like an attack on the Uchiha should have happened, which meant that something he did must've triggered it. Had Itachi come back early, for his screwed up idea of a lesson? Tobi, perhaps? Damn, the nasty changes were already taking effect. He had to get back home.

"I'm sorry, it seems we can't stick around," Naruto said to Gaara. His speed wasn't brilliant, but it should allow him to actually reach the boy, rather than just avoid him, if only once. If he missed, it could be bad. Well, he still had his _Rasengan_, just in case. He held his scroll before him as he dashed ahead, gritting his teeth against the pain in his gut. The Kyūbi was incensed by what he was doing instead of using its chakra to pound the other Bijū into the ground. Well, it was good he was in control, then. He smashed Gaara's arms aside, focusing his chakra to active his seal. _"Fūinjutsu: Gogyō Fūin!"_

The Five Element Seal was an old trick that had first been used on him by Orochimaru during the Chūnin Exams. It had knocked him right out, and for a time yet the seal had messed up his chakra, too; he had also been incapable of channelling the Kyūbi's special form of chakra. As a side-effect, though… he'd not been in mental contact with it, either. Perfect.

Used on a normal person, the seal might well put them in a coma, or even kill them: Chakra was vital to life, after all. On a jinchūriki... Naruto figured he was a living example that it actually worked. Smashing his hand with the scroll against Gaara's chest, Naruto grimaced. The boy's eyes widened, and the blood-crazed rage briefly making way for sheer terror, until the seal burst to life, sizzling under his fingers. Gaara slumped to the ground, sand slipping off him on all directions in streams as his perfect defence crumbled away. Instantaneous unconsciousness: There was a reason he'd learned this move, and ways to block it. There were few who could apply it, true, but even one was too many. In the end, he'd only have to use his defence once, but it'd saved his life. That was mere hours before he'd gone back. He had no longer been a jinchūriki at the time; it would've been even more dangerous than usual, had he been hit.

It was a cruel solution, really; besides taking away Gaara's access to the Ichibi and its maddening voice, the Five Elements Seal would probably also remove his sand shield, perhaps his entire ability to control sand. Granted, he didn't intend it to be a final answer to the problem of the Bijū, but it would take time to develop a fix for the Fūinjutsu that was holding it back, even with his father's notes, or his own. Naruto crouched down next to Gaara, checking if everything was alright with the seal. It was even-numbered, even if it only had two parts rather than eight; no surprise that it was so weak, then. He'd have to remember to transcribe it in its entirety, as soon as he could. If he was going to do anything more helpful than knocking Gaara unconscious, he'd have to.

"Halt."

Naruto turned, frowning. "ANBU-san. Have you not been informed of the agreement with Kazekage-sama yet?"

The man paused for a moment. "I have. I did not expect you to take him like _that_. He'll resent the treatment."

"That is my concern, not yours," Naruto said shrugging. "I promise I won't harm him anymore than I already have. Tell him that when you see the Kazekage."

Raising his hands into the familiar hand sign, Naruto called another small legion of Shadow Clones. "We're heading home. Half of you should stay behind and get some of Gaara's stuff. You know what I mean. I'm taking him to _that_ place. You know the one. Bring everything there."

"Will do, Boss."

Naruto grumbled a goodbye, raising Gaara from the ground as the ANBU looked on apprehesively. The boy was incredibly light for his size; it was probably the sand that made him such an immovable object. Quickly Naruto was speeding back towards Konoha, cutting straight through the desert. His second planned visit in Suna needed to wait, it seemed. It didn't really matter; it would be years before anything would happen that might get in the way.

Now, he had to get to a safe haven, to keep Gaara from prying eyes. He couldn't very well walk into Konoha with him, after all. There was one he knew of, that could serve his purposes; a safe house discovered in the wake of the Fourth Shinobi World War. One of the safe houses that the Yellow Flash used during his time as Hokage, to detain particularly high-profile individuals. There were only two ways in, and neither had requirements that were easily fulfilled.

After that, he needed to do one other thing: Find Jiraiya. If he was going to pull this ruse and convince the Kazekage that his agreement still held, then he'd need the Sannin to play his part. How he was going to make that happen he didn't know, but he wasn't Konoha's most surprising ninja for nothing.

He smiled devilishly as he stepped it up another notch.

* * *

"Naruto, can't you sit still for one minute?"

"Sakura-chan…" The clone pouted, twitching slightly as Kakashi jumped down to join them. "Kakashi-sensei, do you know who attacked Sasuke yet?"

Kakashi looked away. "That's classified information, Naruto. You should know that. You were there when the Hokage told you as much."

The clone grumbled. "Someone assaulted one of my team members. Of course I'm going to want to know who did it! I'll beat them up in return!" He shook his head tiredly. "At least tell me he's going to be out of the hospital soon? It's _weird_ not having him around on missions, even if they're just D-Rank ones."

The last few days had been hectic. He was one of the last three clones, all of which had been sustaining themselves via Senjutsu; that particular tactic hadn't occurred to them until they were already running on fumes, much to their mutual irritation. It required them to spend hours upon hours each day just meditating, otherwise they'd just pop; still, like the clones that Naruto had left behind at Mount Myōboku when fighting Nagato and other foes, they were able to last quite a while longer this way. That said, Senjutsu was volatile, so they didn't dare take in too much. They had no idea what would happen to the real Naruto if he suddenly received a large amount of Senjutsu chakra without having signed the Toad contract, or trained his body again to be able to attain Sage Mode. Becoming a Toad Statue was definitely not in the plan.

The clones' attention hadn't really been on that particular issue, anyway. The attack on Sasuke had been a strange moment; for the entire duration of the trip to the hospital, the clones had been convinced that someone stole his eyes, but when he arrived, Sasuke's face was just fine. Either the attackers hadn't been after the Sharingan, or they had been after something , the only thing he'd been able to drag out of Kakashi was that the attacker was a man, and not from Konoha.

Sasuke would remain under observation for a few more days; he'd broken several bones and even with healing supplied by Medical ninjas, it would take some time before the Uchiha would be doing anything too intense. Sakura and Ino in particular had spent far too much time at his bedside, and Naruto thought he saw something almost like relief on Sasuke's face whenever he visited. Well, at least he wasn't hated, then.

Kakashi, whatever his role in the whole thing had been, returned to normal very swiftly, bossing his other Genin around while spending entirely too much time reading porn novels. He'd been sending curious glances at Naruto, though; the clone wasn't entirely sure what had caught the man's interest, but he'd found himself under the scrutiny of the Sharingan at least twice, though the Jōnin would not say why he thought that necessary. Thankfully, it would soon not be his problem anymore. The real Naruto could take over.

The clone turned to Kakashi and frowned. "So, when _is _Sasuke getting out?"

Kakashi sighed. "As soon as his bones and muscles have healed, he'll be back on missions, Naruto. I was under the impression that you two could barely tolerate each other?"

Naruto looked away, frowning. He couldn't really tell the truth about any of that. His history with the last Uchiha – well, not anymore, in this time – had always been hard to pin down. He supposed that ever since that fight in the valley, where he'd been skewered by _Chidori_, he and Sasuke had been enemies; he didn't know if that was really what he should call it, though. At the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, they'd met again, and that time it'd been to the death.

He didn't want that to happen again. He didn't want Sasuke to throw his life away for the same lies, manipulated by everyone from Orochimaru to Itachi until he hadn't known what was real anymore, and what was mere nonsense. Then he'd died, and he'd never gotten his answers. Well, screw that.

"I'll keep my promise," he murmured. Sakura looked up and blinked owlishly. Naruto smiled slightly. "Don't worry about it. It's just a personal promise."

"As long as it doesn't involve Sasuke-kun,"she answered.

"Sakura – " Naruto hesitated. "Do you want to train with me? At least until Sasuke is back?" He smiled slightly. "You picked up that first Genjutsu really quickly, and I've always been... I mean, I'm really bad at those."

Her eyes softened slightly, and she nodded.

Huh. Had it always been this easy? Naruto smiled, trying not to think of the thousand things that were still churning around his head. Thousands of questions. Who had attacked Sasuke? What had he done to trigger it? Was the _only one_ that went back here, to the past?

* * *

Gaara blinked awake slowly, his eyes roving confusedly around the dimly lit room. His eyes were crusty, his throat was dry, and there was an unusual chill in the air that he wasn't used to. For a few more moments he failed to connect what he saw to what he remembered. Then finally, it connected.

Paralyzing fear was the first thing he felt as he stared around, realizing that he'd just been sleeping. He'd been _sleeping._ He didn't do that; he couldn't. He'd been living without that luxury for longer than he could remember, only ever given a brief respite when Mother went wild. What had happened? Where was Mother's voice? He tried to move, but he could only wiggle back and forth slightly, his muscles cramped and he stopped. That feeling was unfamiliar. Dull and uncomfortable: It had to be pain of some sort. He'd been scraping his wrists against something, and it _hurt. _His sand, his perfect defence, was gone.

He let out a bloodcurdling cry as he tried to wrestle free with increased fervour, realizing that he was tied up. A rope was wrapped around him nearly from head to toe, and he was strapped to a large, soft chair. The only light he could see came from high above, a small alcove that let in the air and a thin ray of sunlight.

"No need to make a fuss, I'm right here," a voice said from deeper in the room. A boy stepped forward from the gloom, barely older than Gaara was, it seemed, with bright blond hair and strange whisker-like marks on his cheeks. The boy smiled congenially. "Gaara. Our first meeting was a bit more unfriendly than I'd figured, so I'm sorry I had to do this."

"Where…?" Gaara looked around the room with narrowed eyes, trying madly to find a way out. The room looked long-abandoned, with spider-webs crisscrossing in the corners; a handful of ratty robes and cloaks hang from the walls, as well as enough kunai for a small army. "Who are you? Where's the white-haired man?" He grimaced as his head ached, but for a different reason than usual. "What did you do to _Mother_? Let me out!" He struggled and the pain reminded him how exposed he was. "LET ME OUT!"

"Ah, Gaara," the boy said, shaking his head. His tone seemed almost wistful. "This place we're in... well, it belonged to my father, when he was still alive. We're in the Land of Fire, some distance from Konoha, if you must know. Technically this particular safe house is unknown to the village, which is why I figured it was a handy place to put you. As for your _Mother_: The Ichibi is, nor ever was, your mother. I shut it up for a while. I figured you could use the peace of mind; so could I, for that matter."

The silence in his thoughts was deafening, frightening. Gaara continued to wrestle against his bonds but they didn't budge, and the boy only stared at him with a strange look in his eyes. An impulse to slaughter this kidnapping Konoha ninja occurred to him but vanished as quickly. He had no control over his sand, and he was tied up, he was at the boy's mercy. For the first time in a long, _long_ time, he was vulnerable. "LET ME GO! You won't end my existence!"

Naruto shook his head mildly. "I already told you, when we first met that's not what I came for. It's true what I said, an arrangement was made with your father to take you to Konoha. He told me to find you myself. As you realize by now, that's precisely what I did. I was the white-haired man." Naruto paused for a long time, simply staring, as Gaara breathed heavily, desperately trying to find a way free, though finding none. Finally, he spoke again. "The reason I brought you here is simple. We're the same."

The boy was delusional, then, as well as a kidnapper. "You are _nothing_ like me!" His gaze danced around the room, pausing on the strange kunai lined up against the wall, on the distant little window. He'd been taken away from Suna. He'd been _taken,_ and Mother was stolen from him. A deep loathing for the boy that stood before him formed in that instant. "Let me go, or I'll _kill you_ and feed your blood to my sand!"

"Gaara…" the boy paused, frowning. "I know that you live for killing, that you chose to see murder as the validation of your existence. You've told me as much. I hope that I can show you a better way. A more effective way to get what you want. Your method is not the only way to gain respect or awe, and it's certainly not the only means of validating your own worth."  
"Don't speak as if you know me." Gaara spat. He wanted to turn away, but he couldn't. The blond boy didn't divert his sharp gaze.

"Oh, but I do know you." He said, and smiled, placing a hand on Gaara's chest. "You are Gaara of the Desert, son of the Fourth Kazekage, sibling and teammate of Kankurō and Temari. Jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Beast, Shukaku. You are also lonely." He smiled softly.

"Don't talk to me about loneliness," Gaara said lowly. "You stole me from my village."

"I think I can speak from experience about loneliness. You can still be lonely even in the busiest of places," Naruto said. "It's nice to meet you, Gaara. Let me introduce myself properly, then. I am Naruto of the Leaf, son of the Fourth Hokage, teammate of Sasuke and Sakura. Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Beast, Kurama. And… I have found my place."

"Son of… You are a Jinchūriki…" Gaara gaped.

Naruto nodded sagely. "You are not the only one, you know. There are others who carry a burden like your own. Who have been shunned or alienated by their people. Some separate themselves from everyone, despising the common shinobi, while some are honoured." He tapped Gaara on the head. "Some are like us, a lonely reminder of what gruesome events happened in the previous generation. The living embodiments of a sacrifice. We both lost parents, the day we were born."

Gaara stared with glassy eyes as Naruto turned and walked back into the darkness. Gaara tried again to break free, terror settling in his gut as he imagined being torn to shreds by the Nine-Tails. He'd have to be quicker, then, taking down the other host first. "It's not true. Monsters do not have a _place. _People cannot _win_ against their loneliness."

Naruto shrugged. "There are many in my village who still despise me, who see me as little more than the demon that's locked in my gut; there are others, though. People who care, who respect me. My team, for one, and the Hokage. You have such people as well. Kankurō and Temari fear you, that is true, but they haven't run away, have they? Despite the fear that Shukaku might lash out, they chose to get close to you anyway. You're their brother, after all."

Gaara scoffed.

Naruto shook his head, smiling slightly. "You don't understand right now. You've barely realized how different it is to live without that voice in your head; you're still panicking. I have it on very good authority that your thinking processes should be much clearer now, with less effort to maintain that level. Perhaps this time you will find out on your own what the beast has been hiding from you. The true way to happiness." He shrugged. "I hope to have a way to fix your seal within a few weeks, perhaps months. Then, you can shut it off or let it in at will, rather than let the creature control your life."

"You mean to keep me here?" Gaara asked, a hint of panic in his voice. "No! NO!"

"I'm afraid you'll have to stay out of sight, for now. I'll leave clones behind, or stay here myself as often as I can. Freeing you from your captive state, even if you do not see it as such at this time, was something I'd promised a dear friend. I mean to help you become a better shinobi, and a better person, without adding to your pain and misery. You're not a bad person, Gaara, even with all the deeds you've done. No more, though." He shook his head. "Perhaps, when you no longer wish to kill me, we can discuss a way for you to enter the village of Konoha. I believe you would enjoy it."

Gaara didn't answer, simply staring mutely.

"I've got a year, per agreement."

Gaara closed his eyes, trying to control his warring thoughts. They were simultaneously clearer and murkier. He missed the crystal-clear clarity of a single goal, to end a threat to his existence. That voice was hidden now behind a great mess of hopes and dreams and fears that he'd long forgotten. The boy was like him and yet he wasn't. He would be a test of his abilities, a test of his worth, and yet Gaara was fairly sure the boy would not kill him, if it should come to a fight. Above it all, he hated being confined, being _hurt._

"This bunker's keyed to blood; only those with the right kind can enter," Naruto informed him. "It's pretty large, and impenetrable. I certainly haven't found a way yet. Probably something to do with the construction. Anyway, the way in is usually via teleportation jutsu, so aside from the one emergency exit that I used, I'm not aware of any proper entrances. That means that unless I let you out, you're pretty stuck, here. Figured you should know." He gestured behind him to the table. "There's enough food and water there to last for weeks, and I can always bring more. There's a library two rooms over, though I haven't had the time to go through most of the books there. You might find unsavoury material."

"This… is my cell?" Gaara snapped, glaring at Naruto with undisguised loathing.

"…Yes. Well, until I'm certain that you're not going to murder everyone you come across," Naruto said dubiously. "Without Shukaku and the sand it should be pretty safe, but you showing up anywhere with that seal on you is going to invoke a ton of questions that I don't want to answer."

"I'll _kill you_, and escape with your blood," Gaara announced. He was gratified to notice that Naruto faltered for a moment, but his smile wouldn't go away. What would it take…?

"Well, if you're strong enough to do that, go ahead," Naruto said, smirking. "There are a couple other rooms. There's a washing room somewhere, and I'm pretty sure there's even a sparring chamber. The whole place is a bit run-down though; it's been ten years since anyone used it." He formed a hand-seal and more than thirty Shadow Clones popped into existence directly behind him, staring around in dismay.

"Oy, you want _us_ to do all this? It's going to take forever!"

"Don't whine," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "I have to get back to town. Sasuke's in the hospital, I still have to figure that out, and I think there's only one clone left, back there."

"So, how long are _we_ supposed to last? Because I don't want to go insane," one of the clones said, frowning. "Do you want us to use _that_ method? The one that the other clones came up with?"

Naruto shrugged. "Figure it out amongst yourselves; I suppose the Senjutsu trick will work. I hadn't though about it, actually. I haven't really needed long-term clones before, so I'm not sure what works best. I'll know when you're running out anyway, so I can always come by or send new clones this way." He frowned. "You know, right about now that technique of dad's would be _really _helpful. Even with clones, I'm limited in the number of places I can be."

Gaara slumped in his restraints, his panic making way for a plan. It seemed he'd be biding his time for a while. It didn't look like the other jinchūriki was going to make it easy for him. Firstly, he'd have to test that blood-protection.'Naruto' could've simply lied. People did that a lot, in his experience. Then, there was the window: It was small and high up, but it definitely showed sunlight. Perhaps that was a good way out? He grinned viciously as he glared at his captor. This would all be over soon.

* * *

The last Naruto clone in Konoha found himself regularly looking out over the village, worrying about his creator's whereabouts. His chakra was running low, like all the others; even with the huge amounts used to create them, the whole construct could only last so long, and pouring in more wouldn't help. Senjutsu was a good way to remain stable for a longer period, but it was certainly not enough to keep him going indefinitely, not unless he gathered the energy constantly.

He'd visited Sasuke again. He'd still not gotten any details of what happened, and he was getting mildly annoyed by it. It was true that their team was new, at least this time around, and that the two of them had rather hated each other in the academy; that shouldn't matter. If someone was going around attacking his teammates, he'd have to do something about it.

Of course, the real problem here wasn't that someone attacked Sasuke. Perhaps he'd even have been mildly amused by the great Uchiha being kicked down a notch, in his previous life. This time, though, time had shifted. He knew for certain that whatever happened had been his own doing. No, he didn't feel guilty about it: He'd had no way of predicting it, after all, and he'd done what he felt was right. He did feel that he needed to step it up, though. He needed to get better, quicker. If his changes were already affecting things enough that something of this magnitude had altered, then it'd snowballed a lot quicker than he'd anticipated. It could be an isolated even, of course, but that was hardly an assumption he could safely make.

The other option was too terrible to contemplate. There were many people who would've wished Sasuke harm, or required something from him. Most of them hadn't yet shown up near Konoha, in his original timeline; Orochimaru was the closest. He was quite sure he hadn't sent any of them closer to Konoha with his activity so far. Which left the possibility of another traveller. Someone who'd followed him through. There were precious few people who could or would have, that also wished Sasuke harm: None of them were good news.

"Yo."

The clone blinked, glancing up. "Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi smiled as he dropped down and stepped into Naruto's apartment. He looked around for a moment, perhaps amazed by how clean the place was, after one of the clones had gotten obsessed with making sure the place was tidy.

"Any reason you're here?"

Kakashi turned and shrugged. "Well, that depends, really. Where is the real Naruto?"

The clone froze. "What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei? I'm not real?" He glanced down and frowned. "What're you talking about?

"Come now, even the real one's a better actor."

"I'll have you know I'm exactly as good an actor as –" He paused. "Crap. When did you find out?"

"I admit, it took a while. Ultimately, it was your erratic behaviour that tipped me off." He smirked. "The clones were destabilizing, weren't they? That's why all the pranks started again so suddenly. So, Naruto-clone, if you and your brethren have been the ones showing up at missions and training, where is the real one?" He shook his head. "I suppose from now on, I'll have to remember to give him a good hit over the head when he arrives. I'll have to dock it from his pay, too; shirking one's duties as a shinobi can be considered a crime."

"Not for Genin!" The clone argued, and Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Reading the regulations, now? My, you have been busy, haven't you? So, what's the real one doing? Making the seals that you clones have been bringing along?"

"Just invading foreign countries and kidnapping people, I'm sure," the clone answered jovially. "How would I know? I'm a clone. I was just put here to play decoy. It worked pretty well, until now…" He grumbled as he turned around. "Would you mind not popping me until he gets back? I was in the middle of a pretty good book."

Kakashi shrugged. "So, where exactly is Naruto now?"

* * *

"Come out, I've heard you," Jiraiya growled, stopping in the middle of the road.

A lithe figure detached from the leaves, landing in front of the Sannin gracefully. On his face he wore a very recognizable mask.  
"A Hunter-nin from Suna?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "You're quite a distance from home."

"I was searching for you, Jiraiya-sama," The man answered breathily, bowing slightly. "I was sent to find you."

"You were sent after _me_? Last I checked Suna and Konoha have an _alliance_. I think sending Hunter-nin after me goes rather against that."

"I was chosen to deliver an important message, because official channels are compromised," The masked man answered. "I have come merely to deliver it, and return your response." He held out a small brown scroll with a clearly visible seal on the front. "From Kazekage-sama."

Jiraiya frowned in consternation as he picked up the scroll and looked over the seal with a careful eye. "Blood-seal, eh? Wonder how he tuned it to me specifically…?" He glanced at the messenger and the man spun around obligingly. It was quite the show of respect; turning your back on a potential enemy could be lethal, after all.

Swiping a drop of blood across the seal, the scroll rolled open. As he read, Jiraiya couldn't prevent a colourful curse from slipping out.

Naruto smiled behind the mask.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Gaara's in the Land of Fire - but it's not as simple as all that. Jiraiya, Kakashi, Gaara and more in the next chapter, as well as Sasuke's release and trying to find out what even happened, there. See you soon. :)


	8. Lying for a Cause

**Chapter 8 - Lying for a Cause**

Naruto rubbed his face tiredly, trying to keep alert. He'd gone without sleep for several days now, and it was starting to take a toll. After dragging Gaara, light as he was, all the way from Suna to the Fourth's hideout, he had still needed to travel for over an hour before the great Hokage Monument finally came into view. He hoped that his clones could hold the fort for a bit with Gaara, since he didn't have any easy to way of getting back there, especially if a C-Rank mission was coming up, as had been the case with the Mission to Wave in his original time. He adjusted the scrolls on his back, most of which he'd taken from the very base he'd just left. The library there hadn't contained much, but it was probably best to remove the volatile stuff from Gaara's reach, and perhaps he could do something with it. On the inside of this jacket he'd put one of his father's Hiraishin kunai; he never thought of himself as overly sentimental, but it felt right to carry a memento. He also wanted to figure out the seal, of course, that was just common sense.

It was strange, Naruto reflected, that the village would probably never know what he'd prevented with his ruse in Suna, that some people would never realize that they would have died if he hadn't stepped in. Without the Kazekage's forces, Orochimaru couldn't hope to successfully invade Konoha on his own. That left the Sannin with only a few options to his goals. An assassination attempt on the Hokage was not unreasonable, but with all the ANBU forces around the leader of any village, that would be quite difficult; it was probably due to the Kazekage's arrogance that Orochimaru ever got the drop on him. Of course, since the Hokage would soon know about the snake's plans, that scenario would get even more unlikely.

Setting it up so that both the Kazekage and Jiraiya were under the impression they'd been approached by the other had been risky, but they didn't see each other enough to see through it easily. Naruto knew that Jiraiya, at least, would talk his way out of the situation if he figured it out, especially if it was to the village's advantage. Naruto's letter had made it explicit that the Kazekage wished to stay out of the picture, which should help in ensuring that Jiraiya remained unaware of the full picture, at least for a while yet. After the Chūnin Exams it didn't matter as much, and the first time the Kazekage and the Toad Sage were liable to meet was during the last stage of the same event. Perfect.

Naruto still had some things to iron out in the coming days. His clone hadn't needed to travel very far to find Jiraiya, which meant he was nearby. The letter he delivered probably spurred him on to go faster, which meant the man could arrive at any moment. He''d need to remember to stick to town. Sending a new army of clones to Gaara's position would have to be it for the moment, so they could take over from the old ones. Returning personally would be a bit risky. (Still, his clones were him, so they wouldn't do anything too insane. Hopefully.

One thing he needed to take care of back here in Konoha would be to figure out what happened to Sasuke. He needed to know what cascade he had set off that let to that particular event. It was probably not related to what he'd gotten up to in Suna – that would have far-reaching consequences in time, but it was still too recent. Gatō? The old bastard didn't even really know about Sasuke until they met on the bridge, and never showed much interest, which ruled that out. Zabuza and Haku had equally little to do with the Uchiha. That really only left Mizuki, and that seemed even more unlikely. Naruto had considered Orochimaru before, but that man certainly hadn't had the time to come down from Oto and infiltrate the village, if he'd even learned of the Kazekage's defection yet. It didn't make any sense.

Naruto strode towards his apartment with a resigned sigh, leaving complex planning to a time when he could actually form coherent thoughts again; sleep deprivation wasn't helping him, and he was liable to do things he shouldn't when he was like this.

Naruto realized he'd almost dozed off on his feet when his path was blocked quite suddenly, something that hadn't happened to him in ages, not even in the young boy. He stumbled and blinked in surprise as he realized who it was. Kakashi-sensei stood before him with his hands in his pockets and an annoyed expression. "So, there you are."

Naruto stared worriedly as he realized that there were only a handful of reasons that could explain why Kakashi would be angry at him. Perhaps his clones had done some massive prank, in which case he'd need to buy them some ramen, or one of them had spilled the beans on being clones. Knowing his luck, it was the latter. He turned away, feeling suddenly ashamed; he supposed he was just thinking of Kakashi as Hokage again, and he did respect that position beyond any other, despite his rather light-hearted way of addressing anyone who held the position.

"Ho- Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, sighing. He really needed to sleep, damn it.

"You look terrible." Kakashi commented, worry creeping into his voice.

Naruto winced as he rubbed his tired muscles and forced himself to stay alert. "I feel like I've run back and forth to Suna," he muttered finally, gesturing ahead. "Can we do this in my apartment? I could use a soft chair or a bed, or anything."

Kakashi nodded mutely, keeping the same slow pace as Naruto as the two walked from street to street. The man kept sending glances at his student. Clearly the man had figured out about the clones. Naruto didn't remember being unmasked, which meant that this was a recent development. At least that gave him something to work with. It was a set-back more in gaining Kakashi's trust than in actually being prevented from changing things, but he considered that important anyway. Though, he supposed he shouldn't whine. He had essentially committed treason by conspiring with the Kazekage, and having Kakashi cross with him was a rather small repercussion, really.

Arriving at his apartment at last, Naruto didn't bother with the stairs, strolling up the wall and collapsing on his bench with a heartfelt sigh. The last clone waved at him tiredly and immediately popped. For a brief moment the real Naruto saw double, as if two different people were trying to use the same eyes. A week's worth of information slammed into his brain, much of it coloured by an increasingly annoying focus on irrelevant activities and ramen. Insane clones were not doing his psyche any favours, that much was clear, and he really needed to figure out a way to avoid this in the future. Well, at least his clones had _mostly_ avoided doing embarrassing things.

This clone had spent an inordinate amount of time at the Hot Springs, he realized. Ostensibly to keep an eye out for Jiraiya, but not really. He smiled slightly as he recalled his travels with the Toad Sage, and the many, many baths the man used for his research. Kakashi entered and Naruto forced himself to concentrate on the now; he'd be able to see the old pervert again soon enough.

"So," Kakashi began as he took a chair across the room. "I take it you're the real you, then. Where have you been for the past few days? Skirting your ninja duties –"

"Didn't you already go over this with a clone?" Naruto whined, rubbing his face. "The Shadow Clone technique works like that, you know? I get all their memories, all their experiences. I know every D-Rank mission we've been to, everything I said to you, and so on. I also know I'm in trouble, no need to rub it in."

Kakashi shook his head. "What could be so important that you left your Genin team with a Shadow Clone and took off?"

Naruto frowned. He'd need a good excuse to satisfy Kakashi and inevitably the Hokage, and there weren't very many that would actually work. To the Kazekage he was a stranger, and much the same for Jiraiya. Though it was true that he'd changed since he was really this age, he had no doubt that an outrageous lie would be caught by the Hokage, no matter how convincingly he argued it was true. The man wasn't called the God of Shinobi for nothing.

Naruto had considered a few options on his way here, just in case, but now that it came down to it, he was unsure. Claiming he went out to train would just make Kakashi suspicious, considering he was supposed to be the one doing the teaching, and they hadn't really done much in the way of training. Sealing could work, but his clones hadn't gotten much further than a day or two of work, which wouldn't cut it. There was, however, another option, one that would probably cause a lot of trouble, but would definitely divert attention away from the specifics. He'd probably never have considered using _that _as an excuse, but why the hell not? He'd never avoided trouble before.

"Kakashi-sensei… you know the secret regarding me, right? Beyond just my father?"

Kakashi gazed with wide eyes at him, and then looked away, pained. "You know about that too, then."

"You're honestly surprised about that?" Naruto wondered. "I knew about dad, I work with seals _constantly_, and you think I couldn't put two and two together? Of course I know about it." He rubbed a hand over his stomach and grimaced. "The Kyūbi, the creature locked within me. Yes, I know about it, and I have for some time. I didn't want to deal with this whole issue in the village for obvious reasons, and it wasn't like anyone could help."

Kakashi froze. "You went out because of the… What did you _do_...?"

"I spoke with it," Naruto answered simply, and waited for the reprimand. He hadn't really spoken to Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox. Not because he didn't want to, but because the fox was presently still the vicious bastard he'd originally known him as, before the Fourth Shinobi World War. Yes, he could restate what he'd already promised to this new Kyūbi, but he didn't know if that would change much. It was doubtful he'd be taken seriously, and Madara wasn't around to convince him to lend power. Last time around he'd beaten up Kurama with the help of his mother to get its chakra, and it wasn't until later that he and the fox had come to some agreement. Naruto didn't have the power now to repeat that particular trick, not by a long way. He'd need the Toad Contract back, at least, so he could once more use Senjutsu effectively, and he'd need to get his nastier _Rasengan_-varieties back.

The Kyūbi was just a beast, as far as anyone knew, too. He could use that particular belief. He turned to Kakashi with a frown; he needed to get this across right. "Kakashi-sensei, I know what I'm doing. I'm the only one that it wouldn't hurt, since I am the one that keeps it alive. The seal that the Fourth made is not just a prison, you know. It's a _tool_. It's designed to allow the host to use the special chakra that the Bijū has, for whatever purpose they see fit. I can't do anything like that near the village, of course. The villagers would kill me if they found out it's even possible, and the shinobi…"

"How long have you been doing this? Using the creature's chakra?" Kakashi asked sharply. "Do you know how dangerous something like that is?"

Naruto frowned, trying to look sad, though he was annoyed more than anything. "Nobody even noticed, sensei. The only reason you did so now was because someone actually paid attention to where I was, so I had to send in clones." He sighed tiredly. "Whenever I do that kind of thing I surround myself with seals that will send me unconscious if I trip them. I can only disarm them when I'm sensible. The Kyūbi's chakra immediately dissipates if I pass those without doing so. I'm not _stupid_."

Kakashi shook his head, glaring. "How could you do this without even informing the Hokage?" Naruto realized that the man was on the verge of actually yelling at him, which was rather a rarity.

"It's not the Hokage's decision, I think." Naruto sighed as he noticed Kakashi's dumbstruck expression. Questioning the Hokage's power was rather a faux-pas. "The Fourth designed the seal this way for a reason. I'm certain of it. He put it on his own son, so he wouldn't leave me open to the creature's influence or vice versa if he didn't think it would be necessary. Important, even." He rubbed a hand over his seal and smiled. "The fox hates that I use its chakra, he's not the one who arranged it. No, there's something else that's allowing me to channel it. I think the Fourth left a little of himself behind, to guide me."

"We must take this to the Hokage," Kakashi said sharply, and Naruto wondered if he'd picked wrongly. The look in Kakashi's eyes - he couldn't remember seeing him like that.. "Immediately."

Naruto nodded tiredly. The Hokage doubtlessly already suspected that he knew about Kyūbi, so the revelation that he'd been trying out using its chakra wouldn't be a big surprise. Oh, the old man probably would be mad about him doing it without supervision, but the most likely outcome of this would be that there was supervision in future experiments, probably Tenzō, rather than being forbidden entirely from pursuing this skill. The Hokage was still the Hokage, and a jinchūriki capable of controlling their Bijū would be a major boon to the village. The Third was certainly clever enough to realize that banning the use of Kyūbi's chakra wouldn't be very effective anyway, as Naruto was quite capable of slipping away from most surveillance, if he really wanted to.

The second part of his little story was ingenious, he thought. With the chakra of both his parents still locked in the seal, the Hokage would come across it if he really researched it, and that observation would probably set his mind at ease. Granted, Naruto couldn't actually access that chakra without it exhausting shortly thereafter, but the Hokage didn't know about that. Only Jiraiya would probably realize the truth, and he was clever enough to ask him first, which would allow him to amend the misapprehensions that the Hokage had. He wouldn't be at fault for the mistake, after all. Naruto briefly mused about the possibility of prolonging the existence of the chakra-imprints of his parents, of finding a way to keep them around. He'd never had the chance to test that concept last time, since their chakra had been long-gone by the time he got any appreciable training, but if _anything_ was going to allow that it'd be Fūinjutsu.

Naruto mused about how much nonsense he'd be spewing to excuse his recent behaviour. Yes, he'd probably end up with some heavy labour as punishment for his disappearance, and his use of nastily dangerous techniques without anyone knowing, but that was alright. He needed to get stronger anyway, and he didn't mind the hard way so much anymore. Not since he'd helped rebuild the town, after Nagato had blown it up, and his army of clones had worked themselves and him into exhaustion. Perhaps the physical exercises coupled with some serious chakra training would be enough to get him ready for things to come.

His mind strayed to the attack on Sasuke. Whoever did that... Well, perhaps Naruto would have a new target, soon. He couldn't wait.

* * *

The Naruto clones were remarkably silent, which was a small blessing, he supposed. They mostly wandered around reading scrolls, writing, playing silly games with each other. Gaara didn't know what to make of it, and just stared at them with a blank look.

He had spent the past two days trying to get free, with the little window high up in the room being his only way of determining the time that had passed since he'd been caught. In that period he'd been offered food several times, though he had refused out of fear of poison, of assassination. After the second day of refusing to even drink, one of the clones had gotten fed up and forcibly poured water down his throat; thus far, it didn't seem like that had contained any dangerous compounds, though Mother would doubtlessly take care of them. If she was still there.

Gaara didn't know what to do, what to say that he hadn't already said. It had taken only a few hours before his rage at being caught by the enemy turned into confusion and crazed terror. Not only was Mother silent, but the enemy's clones didn't show any signs of going away or letting up on watching him, and he'd been tied up quite effectively. Without his control of the sand, Gaara realized he didn't have any appreciable Ninja skills he could use. Even if he did escape, he probably couldn't keep all those clones off him for long. He remembered well that the white-haired shinobi that caught him, which had been this 'Naruto' in disguise, had evaded him quite effectively, and then managed to knock him out in one blow. He couldn't underestimate the boy.

Killing had been the way he'd lived for years now. Either you died or you made people dead, and there was no middle-ground. Something like this, capturing someone alive and keeping them tied up for no discernable purpose, wasn't something he had even considered a possibility. Kidnapped by another jinchūriki, a foreign ninja, and he didn't know _why._

Gaara had never really thought of himself as being a jinchūriki. He'd heard the term, knew that it applied to him, but any talk of others that might exist was quickly glossed over or ignored. Until this 'Naruto' he'd never met another. Now, he finally had an idea about why that was the case. Jinchūriki were dangerous, as far above shinobi as shinobi were above villagers. Many people had tried to end his existence in the desert. Genin, Chūnin, Jōnin, they all died. It had taken another of his own kind to actually knock him unconscious, though.

"You look tired," One of the clones commented as he stepped closer. "You can sleep, you know. The seal keeps the Ichibi from interacting with you at all."

"I don't sleep." Gaara said simply, staring at the clone.

The clone shrugged. "Well, you're used to being awake, I suppose. Don't you want to rest a little, though? The Boss will probably be gone for a few days anyway, so it's not like you'll have an awful lot to do. Unless you want to play Go with one of us, I guess. Though, I must admit, we're all equally bad at it."

Gaara just glowered.

"Well, no need to be so moody," the clone said, squatting against the wall across from Gaara's position. "Gaara, you know we're not trying to hurt you, right? I know you hate being tied up and not having your sand to protect you, but I'd expect that you can deal with that. You don't have to listen to the Ichibi anymore, and you're not in danger of being killed." He yawned. "Besides, it's not as if you left much behind in Suna, aside from your siblings. I've already considered letting them visit, so relax."

For a few minutes it was perfectly silent. Then, Gaara spoke. "Am I a hostage?"

"Hardly." The clone raised an eyebrow. "Boss was actually truthful about that. Your dad agreed to let you spend some time in the Land of Fire as payment for a mistake he made. He knew the awful existence you had in Suna, so he wanted to help you out. In any case, you'll be allowed to go wherever you want, in time. You simply can't be seen in Konoha, right now. It'd make a lot of people very nervous."

Gaara glared at the clone. "You can't keep me like this."

"We don't intend to, we're just waiting for Boss to return. Now, want to play Go?" The clone smiled. "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. You're pretty clever, I'm sure you'll enjoy the distraction.

"Doubtful." He stared ahead blankly, his mind racing. He was going to get out of here... but how? The Shadow Clones would last for a while, and he'd need to eat at some point. Perhaps then he could get free. He rubbed his arms against the rope; it would take time before he could cut through the material, but slowly but surely he was doing it. He smiled darkly.

* * *

The Hokage slammed his fist down on his desk. "You have been doing _what?"_

Naruto almost flinched, but forced himself to keep still. This was hardly the time to get nervous; if he was going to keep living here, he had to make sure that everyone knew what he was like. Not the him that should have been here, the eleven-year old idealist, but the one that he'd become, the man who ended the Fourth Shinobi World War and was a hairsbreadth from the Hokage's hat on more than one occasion. Granted, he hadn't changed _that_ much from his first genin days, not really, but being an experienced shinobi was certainly not something that would fit well with his younger self's reputation, so he'd need to make clear that he worked to get better. Only that would allow him to show prowess beyond his rank and not end up in Ibiki's tender mercies.

The Hokage was probably the person who knew him best in the village, at least as a kid, and even he only spent a fraction of his time paying attention to him; lying to his face was nigh impossible. He'd need to spin the truth. He'd speak about things that really happened, that he really did once upon a time, and let the surprise and shock of the relation to Kurama take care of the suspicion.

It was the best way to lie that he'd found; he'd never been good at making stuff up and making them sound convincing. Fortunately (or unfortunately) he'd lived through so much crap that he almost always had some experience he could use.

"I've been training with Kyūbi's chakra," he repeated. "Only experiments, of course, nothing big. You know who made the seal, so that should tell you something about why." Naruto said, frowning. "The Fourth Hokage didn't make this a seal by accident, and I'm sure you know that. He built it so that I could channel the fox's power, not just as a prison. I've been very careful in only trying little bits at a time- "

"Uzumaki Naruto," the Hokage said sharply, leaning forward. "You will _not_ be channelling the creature's chakra again. Do you realize what could have happened if you foolishly went too far? What horrors you might've unleashed?"

Naruto nodded. "I could have blown up everything in my vicinity with the wild chakra, until I triggered one of my seals. Then I'd be knocked unconscious, and the chakra would dissipate. ANBU would be at the site long before I regained consciousness, and Konoha would have a new clearing." He sighed at the dangerous glint in the old man's eyes. "Hokage-sama," he continued, mindful to use the title, "I'm a _jinchūriki_, and you must have read the scrolls, just as I have. I'm a living weapon, whether I train to use the Kyūbi's chakra or not. If I do nothing but wait, sooner or later things will go wrong, horribly wrong, and I'll tap into it subconsciously. The chakra is powerful, seductive. I would kill everyone in the madness that followed."

"Using that power could break the seal," the Hokage responded. "Break the Kyūbi's seal, and release it back into the world. I _cannot_ risk such a thing happening again, not as long as I am Hokage. Once was more than enough for any village to bear."

Naruto sighed tiredly. "The seal will hold at least until I reach several tails of power," he said. "At least six, I believe, if it is not reinforced. I can currently control only one, and that is how far I've gone." Naruto made sure to avoid mentioning that he could in principle go up to five, right now. He'd never tried, but he knew from his last life that with enough mental fortitude, it should be possible. Jiraiya hadn't tinkered with the seal yet, which prevented him from going beyond that entirely, but it was rare enough that anything could beat that kind of power. Unfortunately, telling that to the Hokage would reveal that he knew exactly how his seal worked, which was problematic, since Jiraiya had the key.

"You were disturbingly casual about multiple tails worth of a demon's energy, Naruto."

"It's my power now, old man," Naruto pointed out. "I can summon it at will, as a lethal secret weapon; few things could withstand the chakra, let alone the physical augmentations. The seal was made to be used, and I _know _there are others like me out there. There are other jinchūriki with their own seals and Bijū, treated like living weapons. Some of them have worse lives than I do, and I have gone through quite a bit." He shook his head. "I can sense them, you know."

He couldn't, not without Kurama's help, but who would dispute his claim? He was fully aware of where each other host was at this point in time, which effectively meant the same thing anyway. If he was not mistaken, his letter should have reached one of them by now. He wondered if Killer B would respond personally. He hoped so.

The Hokage seemed shell-shocked by his statement. "You can _sense them?"_

"I have the Kyūbi locked within me," Naruto said dryly. "When I use its chakra, the chakra of the others call out to it, as my demon is the strongest of them all. I know where the others are, and I know _who _are carrying them. Most of them know quite a bit more about channelling their inner beast than I do." He shook his head. "I appreciate that you want to protect me, but you should really think ahead. I've been training myself, readying myself. I've already shown Kakashi more than I'm strictly comfortable with, and I'd rather keep the nasty stuff away from the other genin, but you know that I'll need it. One of these days, one of the others is going to come here, or someone will come hunting. You'll want something to counter them with. A weapon of your own."

"Naruto…" the Third looked at him with a pain-filled gaze, the anger and panic making way for a deep-seated regret that sent shivers down Naruto's back. He knew the Third had cared – it had been many years, and the old man had become something of a warm childhood memory; seeing him like this, even causing this, it felt terrible. Still – he'd had a childhood like the Third wanted, and a great few years on the road with Jiraiya, and a lengthy and exciting Shinobi career without relying on his status as Kurama's host for most of it. This time around, he didn't need to repeat all that; he could cut right to the chase, and make the world better. He was a 'Chosen One' after all.

"It's my choice to make. I am serious about wanting to become Hokage, you know." He smirked widely. "The way I see it, this gives me an extra boost."

The Third sighed. "I sought to avoid giving you such a life. You don't know what you're suggesting; this way is filled with only pain. I wished to give you a life as a shinobi. You'd be considered a tool by some, perhaps, but one with freedom. I don't want to send you down the dark path that lies in being the channelled of that awful power. Jinchūriki are considered cursed beings for a reason."

"I believe this one will surprise you," Naruto said. "I am better than people assume, both in my ninja skills and otherwise. Yet, I'm just a genin, and beneath most people's notice. You _know_ that having someone like me around can be of great use to the village, especially if I keep getting better." He glanced at the door uncertainly, but he sensed nobody nearby.

Well, now he was here, and he had the Hokage actually listening to him, for once. There was one thing he'd need to make sure happened before the Chūnin Exams: taking out Orochimaru's spies, including Kabuto, and make sure Sasuke was protected, if someone he didn't foresee was after his teammate. He'd need to do a bit of fibbing, but he knew that the Hokage took his word seriously. He had a reputation as a rabble-rouser and a thief, but not yet as a liar.

He glanced at the door uncertainly, but he sensed nobody nearby. "There is one thing that I have to report, and now is as good a time as any. Something I found out shortly before I came back here. There is an assassin after Sasuke."

The Hokage inhaled sharply, though Naruto wasn't fooled. The old man would hardly be surprised by someone gunning for the last Uchiha. "Do you know who?"

"Not by name, but... I came across a ninja, yesterday," Naruto responded. "He wore a mask with a musical symbol on it. He stopped near the location out in the woods that I use to train. I followed him with Shadow Clones, curious, and listened in on him. You know I'm pretty sneaky, I'm pretty sure he didn't notice me at all." He smiled thinly. "He and another man with light grey hair and glasses talked about someone I'd heard about before, so I was curious. They spoke about Sasuke's _eyes _and bringing them to Orochimaru of the Sannin. Seriously, his eyes. Disgusting."

The Third's gaze darkened. "I see. "What else did you hear, Naruto? This is very important, please be as accurate as you can." Naruto almost smiled. Gotcha. Granted, Orochimaru didn't want to kill as much as kidnap Sasuke, but this way he'd get better protection for his teammate than just a lookout.

Naruto thought about how he'd implicate Kabuto, and he only needed a second. "They talked about Sasuke's eyes, about the Sharingan, and about medical techniques to obtain those eyes and implant them. A few hours later one of my clones back in Konoha popped and I discovered that some person had attacked Sasuke, so I feared those ninja already succeeded and went back to the village as soon as I could. That's when Kakashi-sensei found me."

Any in-depth research into Kabuto's activity would probably reveal his contacts with the Snake Sannin, after which he'd swiftly be dealt with, but that did mean he'd possibly be sending the Hokage and investigators down the wrong path in researching what really happened to Sasuke. Well, he supposed he did have rather little information to go on, but with everyone so secretive about it that even his clones found nothing it did seem like they were grasping at straws. Clearly they hadn't caught the perpetrator yet, or this wouldn't even come up. Well – this just meant he'd have to deal with the attacker himself.

"Did these two ninja say when they meant to attack? Any specifics would help," the Hokage asked, and Naruto frowned.

"The unmasked man – I didn't hear a name, but I'm pretty sure he's from Konoha. He talked about the Exams, the Chūnin Exams. He said something about talking it many times already or something like that," Naruto said, thinking back to the first time he'd met that creep. "Is that what you mean?"

The Hokage had a glint in his eye that Naruto thought meant very bad news for Kabuto. Perhaps he'd just managed to remove his own shot at taking revenge on the man, but he was pretty sure that Ibiki would be a lot less direct about it. The Hokage frowned at Naruto, though much of the earlier tension was gone. Good.

The Third cleared his throat, narrowing his eyes at Naruto. "Don't think that coming across such information gets you out of the trouble you have worked yourself into, Naruto. You abandoned your ninja duties, even if they were D-Rank missions, and as such I'll have to stop paying you for at least two weeks, _and_ you'll be serving community service. If there is a next time, the punishment will be more severe."

"That's good," Naruto said, shrugging. "I've been meaning to sell some of my seals, which should hold me over for a while."

"Naruto…" The man hesitated, and for a long moment Naruto wondered if he was just going to end it there. Then, he spoke again. "The next time you wish to go out of town for this… this training, come to me. If this is what you believe you have to do, then I will see to it that it is done as safely as possible. There is someone that might be able to help with this, though I don't know if…" He hesitated. "You are spreading yourself awfully thin, Naruto. Genin training, seals, this. You have so much time, yet. "

"Well, I always have my clones if there's not enough of me," Naruto said with a vague smile. "I have to become the best," he added. "I've got something to live up to, after all. You want to bet whether I'll beat my dad's age for getting that hat?"

The Hokage chuckled slightly, though his heart wasn't in it. "You truly are the most surprising ninja in the village." His face turned stern. "If you leave the village again without informing anyone, you _will_ be suspended from the shinobi force. If the wrong people know about this before you've mastered it, you could be in serious trouble. Understood?"

Naruto nodded warily, and it was lucky that the Hokage didn't notice that the boy was only barely keeping in what could only be described as a cackle. That had gone better than perfect. The only way it could have been better was if Jiraiya walked in right – now.

Nobody.

Bummer.

He couldn't keep this up - lying to Kakashi, to the Hokage, he was bound to slip up. Granted, few would jump to the conclusion that he was from another time - that was pretty crazy - but perhaps they'd assume him a spy, or even under Kurama's influence, both of which could land him in prison with chakra-draining seals on every surface. He needed to figure out a way to combine his changes with his public activities, and soon. Jiraiya could help, he supposed.

Naruto shivered as he left the building, making his way towards the hospital. It'd gone perfect, hadn't it? Why then did he feel like he was balancing on the point of a kunai? Why did he feel like the whole world could fall to pieces?

* * *

"Are you insane?"

"Why do you ask?" Naruto wondered, hanging from the ceiling in Sasuke's room by his feet. "I just figured that since someone put a warning seal on the floor – probably a nurse – I'd use an alternative way of reaching you. Besides, ceiling-running is a great way to train your chakra and muscles simultaneously."

"Whatever," Sasuke muttered, groaning. "Why are you here?"

"Honestly? I came to see how you were doing," Naruto answered, shrugging. "It isn't much more complicated than that, really. I'm extremely curious who finally managed to put the mighty Uchiha in a hospital bed, but if you don't want to tell…"

Sasuke scowled. "It's not important."

"Someone broke several bones and turned your chakra system into such a crazy mess that you aren't allowed to use jutsu for more than a week. I'd say that counts as pretty important. I don't care much for people who hurt others, especially teammates." He cocked his head to the side. "You're still that, at least."

"Whatever."

"Look, Sasuke," Naruto sat down on the ceiling, staring at the other boy. "You've already asked me for a seal, so I know you don't think I'm a total idiot. You've probably figured out that I'm better than I seemed back at the Academy. Sakura's got a lot more potential than you give her credit for, too. I bet you she'll be the next Tsunade of the Sannin."

Sasuke snorted. "As if."

"I believe it, and I'm not a bad judge of character," Naruto said pointedly. "I'm saying – someone attacked you, and took you out. You've got strength on your own, sure, but you're a genin; you can't beat the best. Not yet." He smiled. "Remember the fight against Kakashi? Granted, he wasn't going all-out, or he'd have flattened us, but we beat him. We managed to get the drop on a jōnin and fulfilled our task, and the only reason it worked was because we worked together."

"What are you saying?"

"Alone, I think you could become the next Kakashi." Naruto said, and he didn't miss Sasuke perking up. Being compared to one of the best shinobi of the Leaf did wonders, even if they knew the man was also a bit of a slob. "You could beat your enemies with the Sharingan and powerful jutsu that you copied. A worthwhile goal," Naruto allowed. "But together – you, me, Sakura – I think we could go beyond that. Be something better. I've already said Sakura could be the next Tsunade, and if I'm not too arrogant here, I'm getting lessons from Jiraiya soon in sealing – I'd like to be the next Toad Sage. There are three, however, in any team."

Sasuke shook his head, vaguely amused. "The traitor?"

"Details. Orochimaru might be a traitorous ass, but you can't deny he's a damn powerful shinobi. I wouldn't be surprised if he could take out the Hokage, if he really tried." He shook his head sadly. "Think about that, would you? I'd even help you with that ambition of yours. And find and kill whoever put you in the hospital, I suppose."

"You don't even know what happened."

"Eh, even if it was Kakashi himself, I'd kick their ass," Naruto retorted, smiling. "Get out of here soon. I'll have your personal seal ready when you do; I think you'll enjoy it, it's a modified fire one. After that, I'll try and convince Sakura that she can be better than she is now. I think your help would be useful, there."

"Hn." Sasuke rolled his eyes, but at least he hadn't sent him out yet. Having one-sided conversations was nothing new with the Uchiha.

"We'll storm the ranks so quickly that nobody will even believe it," Naruto swore. "After all, I'm going to be Hokage – and sooner, rather than later."

"Now you're just getting pretentious."

"Just watch me, bastard!" He smiled, waving as he left. The sensation that things were going to go very, very wrong hadn't left throughout the conversation. Naruto shivered as he stepped back out into the open air. There was something wrong - something in the air. He could sense it.

Or... perhaps not him, precisely.

Naruto glanced down at his stomach in consternation. He'd sensed negative emotions before, when he was using Kurama's power in his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode; that wasn't anything new. What's new was feeling it without even using its chakra. A very worrying thought occurred to Naruto: Something had upset the Nine-Tails, had infuriated it, so much that even the host picked up on it.

He'd need to talk to his tenant, and soon. After all, what the hell would scare _Kurama_?

* * *

**Author's Note:** Obligatory chapter is obligatory. Yes, Naruto's little scheme of trying to keep all the balls in the air can't be maintained. Things go wrong - and badly. Next chapter Kurama, Jiraiya, and Sakura (hopefully not at the same time! :P)


	9. Kurama and the Sage

**Chapter 9 : Kurama and the Sage**

Naruto breathed in deeply, trying to ignore the pervasive feeling of fear that was still creeping up on him. The Hokage monument looked out over the entire village, and Naruto remembered many a time he'd been up here before, studying the people who were like ants on the ground far below. It was one of the calmer places he knew in the village, perfect for his purposes. His heart was racing regardless of his intentions, but stress was nothing new. He forced his thoughts to slow down by sheer will, a form of meditation that was considered insane by most people, since it wasn't exactly focused on being calm.

It worked, though.

Naruto didn't even sense the transition. He suddenly stood in ankle-deep water, a vague stench of something decomposing wafting through the air around him, if it could be called air. Perhaps the memory of dank air? He opened his eyes and looked around curiously. He hadn't had a reason to come back here for years now, and he'd almost forgotten how crappy it looked. His subconscious was dank and flooded, and pipes ran across the walls and ceiling, branching and looping back on themselves. He'd never quite found out why it was like this; Ino had hinted she knew the reason (and considering her family's speciality, he wouldn't be surprised) but she'd been unwilling to disclose it.

Turning around sharply, Naruto gazed neutrally at the massive gate that towered over him, remembering the many times he'd stood here in the past, terrified out of his mind or dead-set on beating Kurama down. He'd never really... talked to it, not beyond that time Sasuke had made his way in here, and had conversed with the demon. Naruto wondered what to say to the Bijū. 'Hey, you don't know me, but I'm going to beat the crap out of Madara Uchiha when I come across him' perhaps? He supposed that lying to the Kyūbi would be pretty pointless, as the creature had a front-row seat to what he did. Perhaps it'd already know all about what he'd been up to, and why? Had Kurama been active this early in his ninja career? Naruto wandered closer to the gates, staring at the little paper that was keeping the gate closed grimly. It was the physical manifestation of the seal his father had placed there, and one time he'd nearly ripped it off under his influence. He had to remember the fox was formidable.

"Kurama," Naruto shouted at last, knowing that would certainly get the Nine-Tails' attention. For once, he wouldn't have to lie. The fox certainly was in no position to go blabbing, and he had just as much reason, or more so, to want to keep such secrets to himself. A more powerful, more disciplined jinchūriki might just be able to pull off what the young version couldn't, after all. "Kurama, Nine-Tailed Fox, I want to talk to you."

After a few long moments two great eyes appeared behind the gates, joined quickly by a massive maw of gleaming teeth that seemed to grin at his host, who was miniscule in comparison. Naruto almost took a step back as it snorted in disgust. The fox gazed at him and shook his head. "So... It is you. What do you want?"

"To talk," Naruto said simply. "It's been a while. Not that you'd know."

Kurama lowered his gigantic head, staring at the tiny human that stood before his prison's gate with a malignant glare. "You have some guts to demand to speak to me, pathetic morsel. I would eat you alive, but this seal..." He growled, raking its paw down the gate, and it didn't budge an inch.

Naruto shrugged, unconcerned. "I came here because of you. You've been freaking out, sensing something that I can't. Whatever it is, it's affecting me on the outside." His hand strayed to his stomach. "You're leaking out your emotions, and that's definitely not normal. It's probably since I'm more attuned to you than I should be, but it's definitely new. What gives?"

"You show no fear at all," Kurama said, narrowing his eyes. "You claim I am leaking emotions?" he continued, the slight widening of his eyes the only sign that it was surprised. "You have not used my chakra. I would know if you had. You are wrong."

"Afraid not." Naruto stepped forward, staring at the little seal paper on the door. "The _Hakke no Fūin Shiki_, my seal, is special. It's built up out of two _Shishō Fūin_ or Four Symbols Seals, but they're not quite touching. There is room for chakra to escape and merge with my existing natural reserves, thereby adapting my body to its nature. I can't even sense it as different from my own anymore, but if you were feeling something strongly enough, I suppose it would leak through with the chakra anyway." He frowned. "Only the most intense hatred or fear could come through without loosening the seal, and sensei hasn't done that yet. What the hell are you so afraid of?"

The fox snarled. "You are just like that other one that locked me in this cage." He shook his head. "So, he not only locked me here, but he intended to leech my chakra as well?"

"I'm a little more like him than you probably realize," Naruto said, smirking.

"You are their child, I know," Kurama snapped, and Naruto blinked. "So, they thought they could use me as a weapon once more, did they?"

"Listen, big fuzzy bastard," Naruto said sharply, stepping up to the bars of the fox's prison with a glare. "I _know_ it all, alright? About the Sage of the Six Paths, the Ten-Tails, the Nine Bijū. Even Madara Uchiha's role. All of it. I don't know what exactly has got your tails in a twist right now, but I've faced this kind of thing before, and I have to know what to get ready for. I will be on the front-lines when things go downhill, and I fear that might be sooner than I'd anticipated."

"You..." Kurama narrowed his eyes. "How could you _possibly _know such things?"

Naruto shook his head and sighed. "Kurama, you sensed something that I did not. Something bad enough to startle _you_, which means that even without knowing what it is, I'm about ready to tell someone, anyone, so I can have an excuse for training my ass off. Tell me what the hell it was first. You can't do anything from in here, anyway, so your best bet is to count on me to take care of this for you." He shook his head when the Fox didn't answer. "My goal has never changed, you know. The goal of peace. My methods might have gone... into a darker direction, but I still intend to bring an end to hatred, to save Konoha from itself. And to save you from the hate that consumes you, too." He smiled and looked down at his own reflection, thinking back to what happened shortly after the Fourth Shinobi World War. What happened to him and B, the last two jinchūriki left alive. He couldn't supress a shiver.

"It was _him, _the same person,_" _the fox said after a long silence, almost reluctantly. "It was a man wearing a mask"

Naruto twitched. Well, that was just a little worse than he'd thought. "He's in Konoha?"

"Very close. Too close." Kurama shuddered.

"He calls himself Tobi, these days, if you must know," Naruto said, sighing. "I know about him, I'm aware of what he did. I also know what he plans to do, which is much worse than anything you've seen yet. The attack on Konoha that left me a jinchūriki was orchestrated by that man, and it was child's play compared to this." He frowned as he paced back and forth through the shallow layer of illusionary water. "When and where did you sense him_?"_

"I do not know. I only care that he was too close." Kurama turned away and its huge tails swished back and forth in agitation. "I will _not_ allow myself to be controlled again. I will _NOT_."

"I won't allow it, anyway," Naruto assured him, sighing. He kept up a façade of certainty for Kurama, but his mind was racing. _Tobi_ was in the village, right now. Had that happened, the last time? What had he been doing, right this moment? What could have changded. He stopped, and exhaled slowly. _Of course. _"The Wave mission," he breathed, staring at Kurama. "I haven't been nagging the Hokage for a C-Rank Mission since I was using clones and they'd just get popped, so we've been training and doing D-Ranks instead. I forgot that I nixed that mission entirely. Damn it. This means Tobi could have been in the village the last time, but we weren't there to notice him. Is this a coincidence, or...?"

Kurama scoffed. "You speak in riddles."

"Hey, I'm thinking, and before you forget, we're inside my head, so I'm allowed to do that," Naruto muttered despondently. "The attack on Sasuke happened on the evening before we would have left with Tazuna, if I'm right. Sasuke must've gone training then, so he was ready for the mission, and he'd have ANBU looking over him. This time around he was probably in bed, and there's nothing at all where he lives. Damn it, did Kakashi fight Tobi? Was that what everyone was hushing up?" He paced, muttering under his breath. "This has to be it. This was what I changed, that triggered the change. But what is Tobi doing in the village, now? It's _years_ before he started his plan..." He shuddered as he thought about the implications. What if the two events were really connected? "Just as I was out of town, and neither of us were there to sense Tobi's chakra, he arrives to mess things up. I should've stayed in Konoha after all. What the hell did he do?"

Kurama snarled unintelligibly. "Boy, I am not stupid, and all of this is beginning to sound like you have broken the strictest of laws. You have _changed things,_ you you destroyed the constants of time, turned back the wheel? Not even the Sage was that arrogant!"

"So, you figured that out, then," Naruto observed dryly. "Took you long enough, and I question that last statement. You are correct, though, in that I stepped through time with the intent of changing the past. I'm succeeding, though it's becoming annoyingly clear that time will always find the most infuriating new path if I'm not there to steer it right."

"Such hubris!" The fox smiled toothily. "The power to change everything to your liking, to alter time itself, that is beyond any I know of. It is the ultimate space-time Ninjutsu. You could kill the masked man, and I will have my vengeance when I consume his soul!"

"I think you hit me with spittle there," Naruto muttered. "I fully intend to take down Tobi, _again._" He emphasized the last word, and was gratified to note that Kurama calmed at that statement. "I do not claim that I can just hop back and forth in time; the power of this particular technique comes with a number of drawbacks, not the least of which is that using it more than once would be... inadvisable." He shook his head. "I tried sending inanimate objects, at first. It worked, and the changes were so minuscule that I was able to use trial and error to figure out the functionality of the technique. The second time I sent the same object back..." He shuddered. "Regardless, this was as an opportunity. It would work, once. I took that chance."

"It isn't even your own technique, is it? You stole it." Kurama seemed to be rather gleeful about discovering his host was less scrupulous than he'd perhaps anticipated. "Why did you use it?"

Naruto sat down on the ground, floating on top of the thin layer of water effortlessly with a slight release of chakra. "When I chose to go back, things weren't yet at their end, but I could predict how things were going to go if I stayed. I wanted to leave when I still had the hope and spirit that Jiraiya-sensei gave me, the dream of peace. I knew it was getting squashed, slowly, and it terrified me. I was turning into... into Nagato." He frowned at Kurama and shook his head. "I suppose that tells you nothing, though. It was more than twenty-five years from now, and during most of that period, there was a supposed 'peace'. The only thing that meant was that none of the great nations were actively warring at the time. Satellite countries were used as the weapons, competing with each other in lieu of the larger nations, who wished to retain the pact made at the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War. All the Kage that survived signed it after all."

He sighed as he thought of all the awful things that had happened during that nominal peace. It had truly been peace in name only. It was during that long period that he'd gone from the bright kid that everyone knew to the shinobi that would remain an S-Rank in all foreign bingo-books. Sometimes, they'd even put down a 'flee on sight' order, which he'd bragged about quite a bit. (Sakura in particular had gotten quite annoyed at that.) Sakura had been one of the few constants in his life, even when she became a full-fledged Medical-nin and perfected her fighting style, which mostly involved punching things so hard they broke. Courtesy of her sensei, Tsunade, of course. That Sakura was gone now, but hopefully she'd reach that level sooner, this time around.

"The long false peace didn't last. Shortly before I left, the Fifth Shinobi World War was starting, and Konoha was once more in the middle of it. The instigators were Kiri and Kumo, both losing a great many clients to the more prosperous nations. After a rogue ninja took out the Mizukage, a far more aggressive woman took the helm, and that was the beginning of the end. The first battles were... awful. I was right there, on the front lines, killing by the dozens, hoping that I could stop it before it got too bad. We were losing. It didn't look it, but our side was getting more savage over time, and theirs... they hadn't even broken a sweat. Attack after attack, and the enemy never wavered. They'd been building up an army for ages, while Konoha had been reticent to do so, trusting that the peace would last. It was like Nagato's predications had come true. Violence just begat more violence, and the idealistic idea of a peaceful shinobi cooperation died when our difference proved greater than our similarities. Yet... I think we can still do it. Perhaps if we can come together over something other than a war. Perhaps I can show the world the truth about the jinchūriki, about the Bijū, before the Dawn."

Kurama stared. "You mean to tell me that you went back because you might've lost? _Cowardice_?"

"Is it cowardice, when you know the end is inevitable?" He shrugged. "The war, it was getting even bigger than before. Nastier, too. I visited all the shinobi nations to gather intelligence on their capabilities, as I'd gotten pretty good at spying. For a while I was an assassin too, leaving dead bodies in my wake in a desperate attempt to save what could be saved. It was definitely not the way I'd intended things to go. It was the only way, though, that Konoha might survive. Until this."

"This?"

He waved around and shrugged. "The return. It was a one-way trip, I was fully aware of that, and I wouldn't get another shot. That's why I haven't told people, among other reasons. If anyone found out about my... methods of returning, they would go find it themselves. As soon as I have the ability, I will find a way to destroy it, or to block it off: I cannot risk Tobi or anyone else finding my path back. It took me a long time to find, you know. I'd hunted the legends for months, unaware of what exactly I was looking for, beyond that was a scroll that once belonged to a certain sage." He winked as Kurama stepped back. "Yup. The Sage of the Six Paths himself designed my method of return, and I have no doubt he built the limit for only one return into the seals himself. They're so far beyond me I don't even know where to start with figuring them out. I had to go by the warnings written on the scroll itself to know what it was even for. I don't know if the Sage ever used it, but clearly he intended it to be used again, or he would not have included those. " He smirked. "So, what was that again, about arrogance?"

"The Sage..."

"You liked him a lot, didn't you?" Naruto said wistfully. "I remember that look in your eye... or the one you will have in the future, I suppose. I've been compared to the Sage an awful lot, I've always wondered if we really are similar."

"You look nothing like him, brat."

"Not now, perhaps." Naruto smiled. "There was a time when I could summon a shroud of chakra as he did, far in the past. You and I had a sort of understanding. Our chakra was just was our chakra, then. Not yours, not mine, not separated like it is now. This seal was gone." He put his hand on the paper and felt the remnants of his father's chakra beneath his fingers, though it was now maintained by Naruto's own chakra. Somewhere, here, there was more chakra of the man, enough to manifest a full person, but today was not the day to call on that. In any case, the Fourth was doubtlessly listening in right now, however you did that as pure chakra. He looked back at Kurama with a sigh. "For a time, we were allies, even. Switching back and forth in the same body whenever we wished. Then... things went wrong. I won't bore you with the details; the events are unlikely to repeat themselves here, if I can help it. You were gone."

"Gone?" The fox crashed into the gate and snarled. "Impossible!"

"I never found out how they did it," Naruto commented, shaking his head. "I don't think you were dead, just... elsewhere. Taken. You and the Eight-Tails, the only unsealed Bijū that remained. All nine vanished. For a time, I was convinced that Tobi hadn't died; that the one we remembered had been a decoy. I even considered that he'd been successful, that his plan had worked, and we were all caught in a dream. In the end... I never did find out."

"We will speak of this again," Kurama growled, staring at his host with something between distrust and curiosity. "Our time is over. The masked man is gone," he continued. "Your 'Tobi' has left the village. The reason for it is another strong source of chakra, approaching swiftly."

Naruto nodded and blinked as he realized that he was up on the Hokage Monument again, shaken out of his trance. That... had been a one-sided talk. He hadn't realized how much he'd needed a listening ear, to voice what happened, even if it was to a gigantic monster fox. Probably that said some pretty awful things about his psyche.

What had Kurama meant, that the reason for Tobi's departure was approaching? He stood up, staring over the village, and a flash of white crossed multiple roofs in a single stride, skipping some. Naruto couldn't suppress a smile. "Took you long enough," he murmured.

Jiraiya of the Sannin glanced up at the Hokage Monument for a moment, as if sensing Naruto's presence upon it, then entered the Hokage's Tower.

* * *

"How come I'm the _only one here?_" Sakura said, fuming. "Seriously!"

"The only one?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "I believe I've been overlooked again. Did I put on my camouflage gear this morning?"

Sakura scowled. "You know what I mean! The mission was supposed to start two hours ago! Sasuke's in the hospital, but where is Naruto?"

Kakashi glanced worriedly towards the Hokage tower. "There were some... personal issues that he needed to resolve. I imagine he needs a little time alone, now. I'm sure he'll be back tomorrow." He leaned against the bridge with a sigh. "With both of the boys missing, I suppose that makes me your personal teacher for the day."

"Can we go see Sasuke?"

Kakashi groaned. "Sasuke will be alright. The hospital's guarded by ANBU; they know what they're doing. Now... we should focus on you." He gave her a lazy look with his one eye. "Genjutsu again? You know you're going to end up lagging behind the others if you don't keep up your training, right?"

Before Sakura could speak, Kakashi raised his hand.

"I know your opinion on Sasuke and Naruto. You're doubtlessly under the impression that Sasuke's the best at everything, and Naruto is the Dead Last who got obsessed with an obscure shinobi technique and doesn't know much else." Sakura hesitated on denying the descriptions, and that was answer enough. Kakashi leaned back and shrugged. "What if I told you that Naruto could beat Sasuke in a fight, even if both were fully healthy?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You'd be lying."

"Would I be?" Kakashi shook his head. "You haven't really seen through Naruto's façade, even now, have you? The one who wishes to study Genjutsu can't even unravel a Genin's admittedly impressive deception?" He shook his head. "I suppose that is irony for you."

"Do you really...?"

"Oh, I believe we'll see Naruto and Sasuke face off, sooner or later. Think back to your Genin exam. It was Naruto that brought you three together, and ultimately used the winning strategy. No, he didn't think of it, but that's the core of teamwork, isn't it?" Kakashi stared out over the little stream that gurgled under his feet. "I haven't seen him in action, really, but the way he moves and acts... I'd think he was a Chūnin or Jōnin, not just a Genin. He's remarkably perceptive, too, especially for his reputation, so I imagine he saw many things without people realizing he was even paying attention. Sasuke's not that much different, really; you're an extraordinary team."

"Except for me." Sakura sighed. "If that's true... then what am I doing here? If Naruto's some kind of genius and he's been faking being a loser all those years..."

"You might not believe in yourselves, but I'm certain Naruto does," Kakashi said, smiling. "I should be a fly on the wall more often: You hear the most interesting things in the hospital. Such as that orange-clad teammate of yours trying to bring Sasuke's spirits up by telling him about his grandiose ambitions. He likened his team to the Three Sannin, and said you could be the next Tsunade. That, now that I think about it, would make me the Third Hokage in the analogy." He smirked. "Can you imagine me as Hokage? How would I even fit that hat on this haircut?"

"You'd just have Pakkun wear it," Naruto said in amusement as he smoothly dropped down next to Kakashi. "He'd look adorable. Also, sorry, I'm just a clone. Boss is at the Tower, for reasons you can predict. Why were you listening in on Sasuke's visitors, by the way?"

"I was hoping there would be some nurses on call, and just happened to overhear you." He shrugged. "I don't get an excuse to visit the hospital very often, I usually don't get hurt." He smiled slightly, but it didn't reach his eyes, and the worried expression as he turned in the direction of the hospital was telling enough. "So, you as the next Toad Sage, eh?"

"Yup!" Naruto smirked slyly. "Sasuke didn't appreciate the Orochimaru comparison much, but I think he got where I was going with it. Besides, he is a prick with a superiority complex, so it fits!"

"Naruto!" Sakura snapped, and then paused. "Since when do you use words like 'superiority' or 'complex'?"

The clone rolled his eyes. "I read the dictionary, of course. Clones are invaluable for that kind of thing!"

Sakura sighed, and then glanced up. "So… you said I was like... Tsunade?"

Naruto scowled. "I didn't figure you'd get a big head from something like that… Sasuke, perhaps, but his ego's already three sizes too big. I said you could be _like_ Tsunade, in time. I mean, I was going with the comparison since the Sannin are well-known as some of the best shinobi of the village... I figured Sasuke would appreciate a little boost after getting his butt kicked, and I think it's something that can be done."

"Naruto… Sasuke didn't get his _butt kicked_ as you seem to think. He was ambushed!"

"That just means he wasn't paying attention," Naruto retorted dryly. "Perception is key to being a shinobi, isn't that right, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi ignored him, a small book in his hand which he flipped through casually. Naruto had practically memorized Icha Icha by now; not because he really spent too much time reading it, but because the things had been shoddily written, and he'd seen to having them republished when he noticed how many copies he'd seen around were old and yellowed. He hadn't removed any of the lewd imagery – really, it wouldn't be Icha Icha without that – but he had fixed up Jiraiya's many mistakes, including an embarrassing habit of Jiraiya to forget which book he was writing and to switch out names from one to the next, or even outright put in his own name, or Tsunade's. It was lucky she'd never read the books.

"Sasuke was attacked in the dark! You can't stop something like that!"

Naruto sighed. "Sakura… tell me again, what profession are we training for?"

"…Shinobi…?"

"Right, and what's one of the core mission types for all ninja? Infiltration and assassination, correct? As Genin we might not end up doing anything like that, but you know that people might die even in a C-Rank mission, if you aren't careful. Sneaking in and killing someone in the night is not just a mission we might one day get. It's almost a _certainty_."

"Those are at least B-Rank mission, Naruto. You won't get to anything like that until you're at least Chūnin," Kakashi chimed in. "You don't really have to worry about that just yet."

"I know, but that's not the point, is it? If you're crying foul at someone attacking in the night, you're basically saying that the ninja profession is a bad thing, and then you really shouldn't be trying to become one yourself." He narrowed his eyes at Sakura, who suddenly looked uncertain. "That doesn't mean you have to tolerate this kind of attack on a teammate. Just make sure that the next time someone tries to attack him, you're ready."

"Ready for _what_?"

"To protect him, if need be. To heal him, perhaps." Naruto shrugged. "Even an elite Uchiha can be caught from behind, you know. As a Kunoichi with near-perfect chakra control, I bet you would find medical techniques a lot of fun, and if you perfect your Genjutsu you could be a fantastic support shinobi. Those generally don't get assigned to the bloody missions, aside from with a team. You'd probably never do a mission like that alone."

Kakashi shook his head. "Solo missions are _definitely _B-Rank or higher, Naruto. Don't scare Sakura with things that are years in the future."

"Are they?" Naruto stared at Kakashi for a long moment. "You know as well as I do that things can go very wrong, very quickly. How old were you when you got that eye?"

Kakashi just stared for a long moment, and then turned away. "The Hokage told you about that?"

"He is not the only one who knows your history," Naruto said simply. "I did my research. Anyway, you already know I talked to the Hokage, and you know what that was about. Don't tell me you think I was just going out of town to train that for _fun_? I know you're not that naive."

Kakashi didn't answer, just staring for a long while. "You're more like _him_ than I'd expected, you know. After the stories they told me about you, I figured you looked more like the other side, but I guess they were wrong."

Sakura blinked confusedly. "You are both confusing! What do you mean, Naruto is more like him? Like who, the Hokage?"

"It's not really important, Sakura. Now… should we get started on something? I can't really train much like this, but I could help you out, I suppose…" Naruto frowned, glancing at Kakashi. "There was one thing that I wanted to show you, sensei… Watch this."

Sakura blinked in confusion as her teammate edged forward,. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Naruto smiled lecherously. "Sakura-chan, do you want to go out on a date?" He made an exaggerated kissing motion in her direction after that.

The reaction was as predictable as it was brutal. With a shout of 'NARUTO!' Sakura lurched forward, fuming. Her punch impacted right on the clone's jaw, and it vanished in a puff of smoke. For a moment things were perfectly silent as Sakura huffed. "That's not nearly as satisfying with a clone…"

Kakashi just stared. That punch had been a hell of a lot faster than any she'd thrown before, and a lot more powerful. It was laced with chakra, even. "Sakura… where did you learn that technique?"

* * *

Naruto winced, rubbing his jaw. It was a phantom pain, really, since his Shadow Clone's pain didn't actually get transferred with the memories, but he remembered the feeling of one of Sakura's punches well enough to know that they could be devastating, and his jaw had met plenty of them over the years. He hadn't anticipated the clone to be popped within five minutes, so clearly he'd been a bit more distracted than he thought when he made that clone, and it'd wanted to get its job over with. He supposed he couldn't blame it; he would personally also like to leave someone else to pick up the pieces, sometimes. His worried thoughts about Tobi's involvement sucked much of the enjoyment out of the moment that a reunion with Jiraiya should have been, and he hoped he could set that aside, at least for a moment.

There was one thing that had him worrying, though, something that had come up early in conversation when he'd arrived at the bridge. Kakashi had definitely not been at the hospital when he was. Naruto had thoroughly checked and double-checked that he was alone, and he was good enough to spot ANBU. Kakashi lurking nearby would've stood out. The only conclusion, then, was that Sasuke's room was bugged. His teacher and perhaps the Hokage himself were listening in on everything that Sasuke was doing, possible even watching him. That meant that his theory on Tobi's connection with the events surrounding Sasuke suddenly got a lot more credible, since they wouldn't go to such lengths if there was nothing going on. This was most definitely _not_ a good thing.

Staring at the closed door of the Hokage's office, Naruto frowned. He couldn't just barge in, really. He might have done so in the past, plenty of times, but right now the Hokage was well aware his clueless bravado was an act. He'd already been reprimanded for his wanderings once, he didn't want to get another one on top; he could do without ANBU tracking his every movement. Sasuke could have that dubious honour.

The talk with Kurama weighed heavily on his mind, and he had trouble focusing on anything else but taking out Tobi right then and there, however he could, to prevent what was yet to come. Tobi had been in Konoha, in this very village, right under everyone's noses. Nobody had even noticed his presence, aside from his tenant… and even that was lucky. Compound that with the possibility that Tobi had gotten to Sasuke… Chills ran down his back at the thought. Years too early… Tobi was already active. Had he just made a minor shift in the man's activities, or had he actually caused things to become worse? He couldn't bear the thought of accidentally having triggered the Fourth Shinobi World War to be much _earlier._

If that was the case, though, then he'd need to act quickly, more so even than he'd really planned. Akatsuki had been fairly slow with gathering the Bijū, last time, gathering most of them in the months preceding the war. He'd thought that he could leave most of them be for the longest time, where they wouldn't perturb events too much. That… might not be an option. Killer B would understand, of course, and he'd probably even help out. The man had always had a rather cheerful disposition, even if he was a menace in a serious fight. Yugito would probably help as well, if she knew the stakes.

Yagura might already be a lost cause; he'd never found out when he died in the original timeline, but it was early. He could still be Mizukage, or all Naruto knew, but if he was he wouldn't dare approach the man, as he knew who'd been lurking in the background during his reign. The twisted hands of Tobi had been pulling his strings.

Rōshi and Han, from Iwa, were next. He didn't know much about them, but if he remembered right they were hard-headed and steadfast, and both had only gotten visits from Akatsuki quite far into the future, which gave him some time. Then there were Utakata and Fū… how was he going to warn them all? What would he even tell them? 'Hey, I'm from the future, please believe me?' Damn it, why did everything always have to be so complicated?

"You look real down, kid," a soft voice said next to him, and Naruto blinked in consternation. His eyes swerved up to meet two black eyes with red lines descending down from them. He burst into a luminous grin.

"Pervy Sage!"

The white-haired Sage rocked back on his heels, looking affronted. "_What_ did you call me?" Jiraiya exclaimed, fuming. "Why, you little runt! Is that what the first thing you say to your godfather?"

"Well, it's true, isn't it?" Naruto cocked his head to the side, staring at the man before him. Oddly enough, Jiraiya actually looked younger than he remembered. Perhaps it was the lines around the eyes, or his memory was simply faulty. He couldn't stop smiling. "It's good to see you again after so long."

"…You remember that? You _were _paying attention then, even as a tyke..." Jiraiya smirked. "Eleven years have passed since that… I can barely believe it, you know. Uzumaki Naruto, all grown and every bit as precocious as your old man, I hear. Found out about your family on your own, eh? I figured the old monkey would've told you, but that works…"

Naruto shrugged. "I took a bunch of dad's scrolls from the Hokage tower, and he'd scribbled down ideas for his kid's name on one of those. I found my own, circled. That pretty much told me what was going on. The Hokage actually thought it was funny that I nicked his stuff, I think…" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Jiraiya laughed, and for a moment it seemed like all the problems and worries that had crept up on him were swept away, and Naruto was at peace. Jiraiya of the Sannin, his one-time teacher, and the closest thing to family he'd probably ever had. For three years they'd travelled the world together, and they were still some of the best he'd ever had, even with the downsides.

"So, you're my new teacher, then."

Jiraiya smiled at Naruto and shrugged. "You seem to have a pretty good idea of who I am. You looked up a little more than just your dear old dad's scrolls, did you? You know, the source of the name he finally picked for you came from something very dear to me - my first book."

"Icha Icha? Pretty good, but you suck at editing," Naruto smiled at the Toad Sage's shocked expression. Oh, he'd missed this. "Lisa changes into Anko mid-sentence for example, and then back again. Is this 'Anko' another character of yours, or is she perhaps a real person…?"

"Know-it-all brat," Jiraiya muttered. "I should have guessed, with genes like yours. Come; let's leave the old man to his work. You and I have some seals to check, including the one on your stomach, of course. Get up, get up, we're burning away the hours."

Naruto sighed. "Yes, slave driver. You meet your godson, and it's not ten minutes before you're bossing him around? What's next, you're going to sneak out and spy on women in the hot baths?"

Jiraiya blinked. "I – well, actually, yes."

"You're even more predictable than I'd expected." Naruto smirked. He knew the Tobi problem needed fixing, and a small legion of clones would be up non-stop to keep an eye on things. He was also aware he'd probably end up breaking a ton of laws before long, but he had to protect Konoha, now more than ever. With Pervy Sage back in town, though, he had access to one of the greatest teachers he could have hoped for, one that had things to show to even an experienced shinobi like himself, and he suddenly felt some optimism. His ticket to becoming an actual threat to half the things that were bearing down on Konoha had arrived. If he'd be rocketing up the shinobi ranks, it wouldn't be a surprise to this man; he'd taught someone like that before, after all. Between that and his covert activities in getting Sasuke and Sakura to specialize early and get a hell of a lot better, he and the village would be ready for almost anything well before Akatsuki was even an issue. But... that would only work if he kept the war from starting any time soon.

He might just have to enforce that himself.

Naruto summoned three dozen clones, and they left immediately on their new task. There was one jinchūriki that he had easy access to, one that might be very interested in Akatsuki's activities; now was a good time to inform him, just in case. Perhaps it would sway the boy's mind, to know that there were people out there that would kidnap him to kill him, and steal his tenant. Perhaps Gaara would be the ally he remembered, once more.

He really needed some allies.

* * *

**Author's Note: **The pieces are in place, now. With Naruto straining to keep a grip on things and Tobi already lurking nearby - though is that a change, or not? - things are heating up a little. The scheme with the Kazekage has yet to really impact events back in Konoha, but the inevitable clash of Suna and Oto ain't far off, or Konoha's response, for that matter. Next chapter Sasuke's finally released from the hospital, and Naruto's adamant to have the training session he'd alluded to when he visited. Meanwhile a horde of Naruto's clones meet up with Gaara, and hunt down any clues as to Tobi's activities, and the attack on Sasuke.

Meanwhile, Akatsuki begins to stir.


	10. Shock Value

**Chapter 10 – Shock Value**

Naruto's clones sped through the trees at high speed; there were only six of them, but for this particular mission more weren't really needed. The other twelve were spread out further back, keeping an eye out for trouble. A small battalion of clones was after all already present at the Fourth's old base, and Gaara had plenty of people to keep an eye on him. It would be some days yet before any of the clones there got particularly nutty.

Even though they weren't the original, the clones couldn't help but feel some of the same anxiety that their creator did. In particular, one of the clones at the head of the pack wondered whether or not the order to inform Gaara about Akatsuki's goals was really as clever as it had seemed when he made it. He kept thinking back to the meeting with the Hokage in particular. The leader of Konoha had certainly reacted to the use of Kurama's chakra, to his admitting that he had been training its use, but that had been all. No serious repercussions, at all. After his interaction with the Kazekage had been such a success, he's already begun to worry, and begun to plan what he would do if his plans took a nosedive. In his experience every rousing success was only a good way to get overconfident, and utterly mess up the next task he set for himself. Having both Suna _and_ his return to Konoha go as smoothly as this, barring Tobi's appearance? He felt like the Shinigami was hovering over him, scythe ready to cut his throat.

Granted, he had taken advantage of what he knew of the Third, and invoking the Fourth's memory was definitely a good way to remind the old man that he owed quite a bit to his predecessor, and vicariously to his son. It was a nasty trick to pull, but honestly Naruto didn't feel too guilty; originally the Third had never even told him about his father, he had to find out on his own. Perhaps it had been the realization that the Fourth had intended the use of the fox's chakra that had stayed the Hokage's hand. He knew for certain that both Kakashi and Konohamaru would've been a lot harsher in the same situation, when the whole village was at stake.

Still, the Hokage probably wouldn't figure out the truth. Nobody but Kurama knew, and Naruto didn't think anyone could figure out much purely by following him around. If _anyone_ could pull that off, it would be the Perverted Sage. Jiraiya would be around him a lot, and would figure out that something was off soon enough, if he hadn't already. Whether or not the man concluded that he was 'off' because of the fox and a bit of an accelerated maturation or whether or not he would suspect treachery, that was anyone's guess. Naruto didn't have much of a choice; if he wanted to get better, both in his ninja skills in general and Fūinjutsu in particular, he's need a proper teacher.

He would need those skills, if he kept moving forward like this. If he ever came across the masked bastard, he's need access to his Rasengan, to Sage Mode, perhaps even to Kurama's chakra cloak. Anything to surprise the bastard and get out of there in a hurry. Showing any of those now, to anyone, would be a huge red flag that would land him in Ibiki's hands, and he knew that even he would crack eventually. Even worse would be showing incongruous skills like that to someone who specialized in time-space Ninjutsu; he might just jump to the right conclusions.

The clone blinked as he suddenly felt a hand close around his arm, and he stopped in an instant, raising a curious eyebrow as the other motioned to keep silent. The second clone took a step forward, speaking softly, almost inaudibly. "Do you smell it?"

"Smell it?" The first clone repeated. He sniffed carefully, diverting chakra to his senses, an extremely useful skill to have when you're trying to sneak around, and something he had picked up from Kakashi. Unfortunately, it was also extremely dangerous, since chakra build up in delicate organs could seriously damage them when it was too concentrated. He had never been terribly good at limiting himself, and clone would just pop from overdoing it. A sharp odour suddenly came into focus, and the clone took in a sharp breath. "Sweet. Wait, is that blood?"

"Yes." The second clone frowned. "We've probably not been detected yet, but that won't last long if there's anyone still there. Could just be dealing with a corpse, but we shouldn't take that chance, not when we're close to the underground base."

The first shivered. "You don't suppose Gaara broke out of there? You know what he's like right now..."

"Who could he kill out here, exactly?" the second muttered, shaking his head. "All he has for company is more of us clones. No, either it's a coincidence, which would be pretty _huge,_ or someone's followed us here. Either the first time, from Suna, or now."

"They can't get in, at least," the first clone answered, tapping his pocket. "You need the proper blood and chakra to enter through the sealed entrance, and Boss is nowhere near here. Unless these people intend to dig up the whole thing and take all the Sealing traps off one by one, traps set by the Fourth, they're not getting in."

"Someone has to go out there and check who it is."

"I'll go check things out," the first clone said easily, drawing a kunai. "One of you, get ready with some firepower. Rasengan will do. Here." He drew the little vial with Naruto's blood. "Keep this safe. We won't be getting in without that."

The second clone took it, slipping it into the pocket of a clone next to him, who looked on in surprise. He looked seriously behind himself for a moment to the other clones, then focused on the one that would be leaving. "Try not to get yourself popped."

* * *

"Don't you have any _proper_ food around here?" The Toad Sage wrinkled his nose as he looked at the stacked packs of ramen in Naruto's fridge, shaking his head at the spoiled milk that was stashed near the bottom. "You have _some_ money from missions, don't you? Why don't you get good meals?"

"I spent it all on sealing supplies," Naruto admitted airily as he glanced over. "Honestly, I've got several full meals stashed away in storage scrolls for when I get hungry. The fridge is just stuffed with emergency rations."

"Emergency rations? It's _all_ ramen!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

"So?" The Genin looked up as he put his scroll down, dropping his brush in a cup of water to get the ink out. "They're for _emergencies, _as the name implies_._ You know, like a mid-night craving, or when you need to take something with you on the road. Ramen is not good enough for something like that? Iruka-sensei has mentioned plenty of times that I could get fat from eating it, so there must be _something_ in it." He smiled widely. "Besides, it's ramen! Who doesn't love it?"

"Your father wasn't the greatest fan, for one," Jiraiya muttered.

"Well, nobody's perfect."

Jiraiya sighed. "I suppose you got this food thing from your mother." He looked over and Naruto was surprised by the warmth of the man's gaze. The first time around he remembered he ha been yelling and cussing out the Toad Sage too much to really notice how much he cared; he hadn't figured that out until their long journey together. The Toad Sage sat back, smiling. "You know, you're not as I expected."

"Oh?"

"The stories I heard reminded me of your mother: Brash, boastful, loud. She was a firebrand, you know. There's some of that in you, but it goes out the window when you step out the door, doesn't it?" He glanced over the scrolls piled on Naruto's desk. "I suppose I'd never considered that you'd take after the other half. It's a pretty high target to aim for, you know, to be like the Fourth Hokage."

"I know," Naruto muttered. "Still, where would I be if I just went with whatever the villagers say and aim low? They think I can't even be a shinobi, and I know they're wrong about that. I'll show them, and someday they'll realize just how wrong they were, when I am Hokage."

"There was someone else with that goal, once upon a time," Jiraiya said softly. "What I don't really get is why you hid most of your strength, these last few years? If you wanted the villagers to know that you could be a good shinobi, why not just come out and show them?"

"You haven't been in the village for a while, have you?" Naruto replied dryly. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I failed the exams twice before I figured out such a simple move as the _Bunshin. _Most of my skills aren't fancy Ninjutsu that the villagers would actually care for, and the majority don't even know how hard Fūinjutsu can be. What would I show them?"

"You were practicing Sealing at ten, but you sucked at simple _Bunshin_?" Jiraiya shook his head. "You're an odd one, aren't you?"

"There's a Genin that's a year ahead of me that specializes entirely in Taijutsu," Naruto pointed out. "I am just good at other stuff than what the academy goes on about. I don't think it's that weird, really." He glanced over his table, picking up one of the scrolls. "Speaking of the good stuff - could you look this seal over for me? I think I got it right, but you'd be the best judge."

Jiraiya unrolled the paper with a frown, revealing an intricately painted seal. His breath caught.

"Yeah, that one _should_ look familiar," Naruto said immediately. "I found a few scrolls with your name on them, and copied most of what was in there. Pretty nice seal, though I think you spent way too much time figuring out how to look through walls in the rest of the scrolls. I suppose I can guess why _that_ was on your wish list, though."

"I made this when I was a Chūnin," Jiraiya muttered, ignoring Naruto entirely. He ran his hand over the seal and removed it when he felt it heat up under his hand. He raised an eyebrow. "You were trying to impress me with this one, weren't you? It's nicely done."

"Impress you with that one?" Naruto scoffed. "I copied that from your scrolls. Anyone with a steady hand and half a clue about Fūinjutsu could probably make it, if they spent some time on it. It wouldn't really be a demonstration of Sealing skill, would it? No..." He snatched another scroll from the far end of the table, making sure it was the right one before tossing it to his new teacher. "This is the one I made to impress you."

Jiraiya caught it easily. "Let's see if you didn't bungle this up too badly, then." His eyes roved over the convoluted ink shapes with the practiced ease of a master. He took a few minutes while muttering under his breath and Naruto wiggled on his chair in nervous anticipation. His sealing had never actually been judged by a proper Seal master, let alone Jiraiya. The one he had passed along wasn't his most complex seal, but it was definitely one of his most original.

"What do you think?" Naruto asked at last, when Jiraiya didn't show any signs of speaking up.

"You made this one from scratch, didn't you? Well, from the base up, anyway." The Toad Sage nodded. "These spirals… They're not the most effective, but they're more stable than my alternatives. I imagine you don't care about wasting a bit of chakra with your reserves. Yeah, that works. A personal touch." Jiraiya put the scroll down. "What made you think of this? About storing a _Kage Bunshin_ away without destroying its chakra configuration?"

A hundred thoughts ran through Naruto's head; most of the true reasons he probably couldn't admit to. The summoning contract he had used with the toads was one inspiration; the seal on his stomach was another, particularly the parts that he definitely wasn't supposed to understand right now, where his parents appeared to him one last time. His _Kage Bunshin_ was of course a third inspiration, and vital to the seal's function. He had started thinking this one up a few months before heading back in time, and still hadn't had time to finish it.

"Just the Shadow Clone technique, really. It's not a working seal yet right now," Naruto admitted after a while. "The clones only last a week before the chakra goes chaotic and burns up. I'm pretty sure that though it's unconscious inside the seal, the clone still sticks around like usual, and at some point it just pops from its chakra getting naturally too erratic."

Jiraiya nodded. "I noticed a few mistakes in here that reduce the lifespan of the storage by at least half, so you'll need to apply some of the things used in regular storage seals. I'll help you figure them out later. You'll probably need a stability seal or two to support it, too." His eyes returned to the seal. "I'd never really considered storing a _Bunshin_, though I suppose if other chakra constructs can be kept, it could be done. There's potential here. Even for the short term, this could be helpful: Imagine storing away dozens of Kage _Bunshin_ for emergencies. You could have a small army without expending chakra, allowing you to get away with your full strength. Alternatively, it would be a great boon to have clones of strategic thinkers along, so they can lend advice even when they're not nearby."

Naruto nodded, imagining a shop that sold nothing but Nara-in-a-can, since that family was well known for its tacticians. A grin stretched across his face at the thought of a small army of bored-looking Shikamaru clones that just wanted to play shōgi with each other. "So, it's a good idea?"

"It'll probably take you years to make this a fully functional seal array that anyone could use, but I think it can be done." Jiraiya glanced at Naruto with a knowing smile. "You're already doing fancy stuff like your old man, eh? At least you won't be embarrassing me!"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked, glowering.

Jiraiya sighed, dropping the scroll and getting up. He stretched exaggeratedly as he walked out to the balcony, looking over the village. "I'm curious, what do you expect from this training arrangement? Do you know what it'll be like to be my apprentice?"

All too well. "Not really."

Jiraiya nodded. "I could take it slow, give you time to master each seal individually. I'm sure that I could show you lots of seals that I've learned over the years, and we could go through all my books. You'd probably be on my level in about ten years, and know enough to take my place around here."

"Ten _years?_ I don't have that kind of time!" Naruto blurted, and then caught himself. "I'll be _old_ when we're done with that!"

Jiraiya chuckled, and then sent him a warning glance. "Did you just imply that I'm _old_?"

"Venerable?"

"Better," Jiraiya said. "I figured you'd be impatient, so we'll not be taking the slow route of learning, then. With that Uzumaki blood in your veins, could I expect anything else? No matter, I've met impatient upstarts before, I can deal with you." He reached into his pocket. "Here, read this." He threw a little blue book, and Naruto snatched it from the air just before it would've struck his nose.

"This is Icha Icha."

Jiraiya smirked. "Open it."

"I'm not going to read your porno books when you're supposed to be training me!" Naruto exclaimed. "Come on!"

"It's not - Well, it is Icha Icha, that's true," Jiraiya admitted. "It's also an assignment. There are three seals in that book, all of them meant to keep you from reading the contents. I want you to break those seals, and then… tell me who sleeps with Salomé in the end!"

Naruto resolved to ignore the man's crude remarks. "But making seals collapse isn't that hard. It's just that usually you're not in a position to do it. That seems a bit simple…" he said after a moment, finally flipping the cover of the book open. He blinked when he found his hand empty. The cover was closed again. Had he closed it himself, or had it moved on its own? He hadn't seen either. One moment it was open, the next it was closed. "Hey, what was that? Genjutsu?"

Jiraiya smiled knowingly. "Figure out how to break the three seals before week's end. If you can manage it, we'll go to the next step. If not, well, draw an impressive seal for me and maybe I'll give you some hints."

Naruto sighed. "The learning via doing thing again, I should've known." He thought back to the Sage's way of teaching the Rasengan. No matter, he had broken fancy seals before, even some of the Toad Sage's. "Okay. I'll try it."

"Good. You should be able to figure it out using what you know. It's sometimes easier than it looks, so try to start by thinking simple and then complex, not the other way around." Jiraiya looked one last time at the fridge and sighed. "I'm going to find a nice restaurant. Don't blow yourself up, now."

"...Do you think I'm stupid?"

Jiraiya ruffled a hand through Naruto's hair, smiling. "I probably shouldn't answer that."

* * *

"Who is it? Akatsuki?" The second clone hissed as the first landed next to him in a crouch, grim expression on his face.

The first sighed, dropping his _Henge._ "Doesn't have the fancy painted nails or the cloudy bathrobe. Probably a rogue ninja, if you ask me. It's some creepy-looking guy with a huge scythe. He was drawing shapes in the dirt, if you can believe it."

"A _scythe_? What, does he think he's the Shinigami?" The second shook his head tiredly. "Just give me Zabuza any day. Big-ass swords are way cooler."

The first shrugged. "Whoever this is, he's sitting directly on top of the entrance to the underground base, which means trouble. Either he's found Gaara, tracked him from Suna probably, or he's someone who happened to know where the base was but doesn't have a way in."

"Scythe…" The second paused as something occurred to him. He had been told about this, a long time ago... "Wait, this scythe, did it have three blades?"

"…Yes," the first answered. Both clones widened their eyes simultaneously when the implication sank in.

"Ah, crap. He's the guy who killed Asuma-sensei."

"Do you remember Shikamaru talking about that guy? He mentioned something about a ritual, I think. Man, it's been over a decade… I should have paid more attention."

"This was the guy from the blood cult, wasn't it?" the second said. "The one that was wiped out after the last war?" the second clone sat down, frowning. "So, Akatsuki's already aware of this place? Can they sense the Ichibi's chakra, maybe? I didn't think they were looking already."

The first frowned. "Perhaps, and this might sound crazy, he's not in Akatsuki at all. I mean, we only even heard about him a few years from now, and we know that there was recruiting going on in that time. It's pretty likely that he was hired somewhere in the next few years, when Nagato gets active in Rain."

"That doesn't explain why he's sitting on the base," the second retorted. "Without changing the guard inside, clones will start popping and Gaara will get free. You know as well as I do that he'll find a way out, somehow. If this guy's waiting at the door…"

"We should just kill him now," the first hissed in response. "Kill the guy and think about the rest later. We can bury him and whoever he killed easily enough, and then inform Gaara that these bastards are a _lot_ closer than even Boss thought. Listen, I've just used up a ton of chakra on that surveillance mission, just to keep unnoticed, and I only have an hour or two left. I'll go pop and let the Boss know what's going on here."

The second sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Leave it to me to do the dirty work. You're a real piece of work, aren't you?"

"I am you, dummy. Stop insulting yourself," the clone said as he vanished.

"_Damn_ it!"

* * *

Naruto made his way to the hospital in quick hops across the rooftops, Jiraiya's book hidden deep within a pocket, since he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it if Kakashi ever saw him with it. Today Sasuke would be getting out of the hospital, and perhaps he would finally get some idea of what happened to the Uchiha while he was out of town. If it had been Tobi – why was Sasuke still alive, and in possession of his own eyes? He doubted the man would just come by to have a chat.

Sitting in front of the hospital on one of the low benches was Sakura, staring at the doors of the hospital as if trying to summon Sasuke with sheer willpower. It figured that she wasn't over her crush yet since it had taken ages back in the old time. Naruto realized that if he was successful in keeping Sasuke around, it might never vanish at all. He would have to tolerate that, he supposed. Naruto flipped onto the bench next to her, and she glanced at him in consternation.

"Why are you out here? Shouldn't you be in there?" Naruto wondered.

Sakura sighed. "Sensei said that Sasuke didn't want anyone to help him out, that he would resent seeming weak," she explained, and it looked like she had some trouble actually saying it. "He told me to wait here."

Naruto blinked. "Kakashi told you not to go in? Huh."

Sakura sighed. "He's a slave driver, you'll find out. He had me doing Taijutsu exercises for _hours_ and he can't stop reading that book of his while doing it, making filthy jokes all the time! Just wait till he gets to training you, too!"

So – Kakashi was actually training Sakura, then. Naruto couldn't help but be a little surprised, since he remembered all too well that the Wave Mission had been where the first proper lessons were given the last time around, and even then it was just chakra control. Yes, he had steered Sakura towards Kakashi in the hopes that he would notice her potential at using chakra in her punches, but this was quicker than he had anticipated. "Taijutsu, huh?"

"Right – hand to hand fighting." Sakura stretched, wincing. "I'm famished. I could eat a whole _cow _right now."

"Don't have that, but do you want some pork?" Naruto asked, reaching into his pocket. "We could share some?"

Sakura looked tempted for a moment. "N-No, that's okay."

"Sakura." Naruto frowned; he had almost forgotten this. "You're not still dieting, are you?" She looked away, and that was answer enough. Naruto sighed, shoving chakra into the seal until a plate full of delicious meat popped into being, already nice and hot. "Come on."

"Naruto!" Her stomach growled, and Sakura grimaced as he picked up a bit of meat, nibbling on it. "That's mean!"

"You don't _need_ a diet, Sakura," Naruto pointed out as he picked another piece of meat and savoured the taste. "You're already thin, and you need to build up muscles with _something_, especially if you're doing Taijutsu. You're probably tired because your body can't find the resources to keep going, not because you were overworked."

Sakura looked unconvinced.

"Come on, I'm sure that most kunoichi don't diet. I'm pretty sure that Kurenai-sensei doesn't, you know. Train a little more, and you can just turn the fat into more muscle." He winced as he pulled out his trump card. "I'm sure Sasuke cares more about strength than skinniness anyway."

Sakura, after a long moment of uncertainty, carefully picked a bit of pork from Naruto's plate. The smallest piece, true, but it was a beginning. Naruto smiled as he picked a little more for himself, wondering how he was going to convince Sakura to pursue medical jutsu, a field she had excelled at in the future, now that the Taijutsu was covered. Perhaps he could go fetch Granny Tsunade when things were a little calmer?

"So – is there anything that I could help with? In your training, I mean?" Naruto asked after a while, wondering when Sasuke would finally make an appearance. "I mean, I still need to train my Taijutsu too – I'm pretty crappy at it, honestly."

"I'll ask sensei about it, but don't you have your own things to do?" Sakura asked. "Seals and such?"

"Right – I'll have to make sure I have time for other stuff, though. I have to put some hours in for making my seals, somewhere, and I can't shove it all on my clones either. Imagine if one of them made a mistake and I end up blowing myself up?"

"That doesn't really…" Sakura paused. With a yell of 'Sasuke!' she jumped up from the bench, and it took Naruto a moment of failing to connect the sudden yell with his question before he realized what had happened. Indeed, hobbling out of the hospital was Uchiha Sasuke, leaning on a short crutch. Kakashi walked right beside him, and for a brief moment Naruto and he made eye contact. Naruto received a subtle nod and he slowly approached, hands in his pockets.

"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" Sakura asked breathlessly, and though Naruto couldn't follow most of the rest of what she said, it was probably the same thing. Naruto stopped in front of his teammates.

"Naruto."

"Sasuke," Naruto replied, nodding. "Still up for that match you promised, when your leg's back in action?"

"It's healed," Sasuke said immediately, glancing down in annoyance at his crutch. "The leg muscles are a bit stiff. They need stimulation before I can use them properly again, like walking, or running."

"Or fighting," Naruto finished for him, smiling. "Want to do that now?"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "I should have guessed this would happen… There won't be any brawls in front of the hospital," he said. "Injured people need to be able to pass by here."

"But sensei – Sasuke's going to be the injured one after we're done," Naruto whined, pointing. "Come on, he's limping! We would need to carry him in on a stretcher! It wouldn't even be a fair fight!"

Sakura nervously glanced at Sasuke, but the Uchiha just looked on in mild amusement, twirling a kunai around his finger. Naruto noticed that too, smiling cheerfully.

"You think you can defeat me?" Sasuke asked dryly. "You think that you – the dead-last – could take me in a Taijutsu match, or even Ninjutsu? You can't use your fancy seals then, you know."

"Eh, you don't have the Sharingan, so we're both deficient in some way." Naruto winked as Sasuke's expression froze, his mouth a thin line. "Oh, did I hit a nerve there, Sasuke?"

"Don't make fun of me, idiot!"

"Catch me if you can, Uchiha cripple!"

Sakura and Kakashi sighed as the two boys bickered. It was only moments later that kunai clashed, with Naruto facing off against Sasuke with two Shadow Clones already by his side, holding their own kunai at the ready.

"You really can't do this somewhere else?" Kakashi asked, shaking his head. "I know you're both good for Genin, you really don't have to show it every five minutes. There is such a thing as restraint, you know. I figured you'd have learned that with all the D-Ranks you've been doing."

"When are we getting a C-Rank anyway?" Sakura wondered. "Haven't we done enough missions yet?"

Kakashi smiled. "Actually, I've been waiting for a good one to come by. Unfortunately a few high-profile criminals were spotted near Konoha, so most missions like that have been bumped up to B-Rank since we don't want Genin to run into them. We'll have a proper C-Rank soon enough."

"Ah, we can do a B-Rank, can't we?" Naruto said loudly. "What's a rogue ninja going to do against the most badass Genin team of Konoha?"

"I think you'll have to train a little harder before you reach that level, Naruto," Kakashi said, smiling. "Perhaps you should meet the real strongest Genin team sometime?" He frowned. "I'm pretty sure that the one that would count as strongest is… Oh, right. I almost forgot who their sensei is…"

"Oh, you're talking about Team Gai?" Naruto observed. "Well – I don't know if I would call them the most badass… just the most violent." He shivered. "Seriously though, Lee's a beast when he gets going, and Tenten is _crazy._ And there's also Neji, who is like Sasuke in a way, except even more stuck-up!"

"I didn't know you met them before, Naruto," Kakashi said mildly. "Gai must've been bragging again…"

"Actually, I was in a class with them before," Naruto said sheepishly, glancing at his teammates. "You know I did the last year of the Academy three times, right? I didn't really hang out with anyone, but I was paired up with Lee once for Taijutsu. The guy's crazy powerful!"

"I've spoken to Tenten before," Sakura said. "She's nice, but kind of creepy with those knives of hers." She looked uneasy, then. "I think she actually uses seals, like you, Naruto."

"Storage Seals," Naruto scoffed immediately. "I did those _years_ ago."

"Hn. The Hyūga." Sasuke sniffed derisively.

"Descriptive as always," Naruto deadpanned. "Anyway, now you distracted me, sensei. I was saying how we were _definitely _ready for a better mission! Sasuke and I can do a sparring match if you want, show you what we can really do!"

Kakashi sighed. "I'm beginning to rethink the wisdom of becoming a sensei. If I was half as annoying as you are now, I can't imagine how my own sensei survived."

Naruto stuck out his tongue to Kakashi as he kept his eyes on Sasuke, involuntarily searching for cues to his attacks that wouldn't be there – not yet. He had fought Sasuke enough times to know how he thought, but most of the techniques he would have used in future years he would probably never figure out this time around. The Sharingan would be used again, that was a matter of time. Orochimaru's jutsu? Not if he could help prevent the mess at the Chūnin Exams. The Mangekyō? Well, he would like to avoid that cesspit of melancholy entirely, given how every Uchiha had ended up after the Fourth Shinobi World War. Perhaps it was a good idea to get something worked out with Itachi sooner instead of later.

The Sharingan was the immediately relevant skill. Sasuke would have already unlocked it if the Wave C-Rank had happened as before. Right now he was weaker than the first time around, and that wasn't what he intended at all. It was naïve to believe that the Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha clan wouldn't activate; whatever happened a few days ago could have already done it, though he suspected that Sasuke would have shown those eyes off if that were the case.

There was something he _could_ do here, that could help solidify Sasuke's loyalty to the village a little more – or at least to himself. Helping out Sasuke would definitely earn him some recognition, even if he didn't agree with the other boy's wishes, or his intention to kill Itachi. Perhaps it was too early to think of fixing his revenge-based mentality, but he could at least make Sasuke stronger through his teammates. Perhaps then Sasuke would stop seeing him as a dead-last all the time, too.

He straightened, slipping his kunai back in its holster. Sasuke seemed a bit confused by the sudden change, but did the same. Doing anything like he planned right here would be incredibly foolish. He would need to find somewhere peaceful and quiet, so he could make all hell break loose without startling the entire village. He could think of an excuse for what he planned easily enough, but some people would see through it. With that, he decided on a place; with Kakashi nearby, he was certain it would be empty before he even arrived. "Come on, Sasuke. I'm taking you to the Jōnin training grounds."

Kakashi was the first to react, his eye immediately focused on his shortest Genin student. "What do you want there, Naruto? Do you even know where those fields are?"

"I've been using the remote training grounds for a while now," Naruto said easily, and Kakashi seemed to grasp the implication immediately. "There's something I want to try. Call it training, if you will. I want to see if I can use one of my special skills, and I can't do that here." He looked at Kakashi steadily. "If all works out – we'll be there tonight to get a _proper _mission."

Kakashi hesitated, and then nodded. Naruto knew that the man would stick close to them all the way, curious as he doubtlessly was – but what he was planning was nothing Kakashi didn't already know about.

"If you want to fight, we can just do it here." Sasuke noted in a bored tone. "It sounds like it's a long way to go for nothing."

Naruto looked seriously at Sasuke. "Remember when I visited the hospital? I did mean it, you know."

Sasuke blinked, and then sighed wearily. "Fine."

"What is going on with you two, lately?" Sakura asked in confusion. "Don't you _hate_ each other? Naruto, you couldn't stop complaining about Sasuke-kun in the Academy!"

"Well, of course I couldn't," Naruto said, annoyed. "He's a stuck-up prick who thinks he's better than anyone else in the class, _and_ he could show that off all the time without the villagers saying a single word!" He breathed. "But he's a teammate, now."

"I _am_ better than anyone else in the class," Sasuke muttered.

"Shut up."

"Well, looks like we're having another Taijutsu lesson, Sakura." Kakashi said, smiling. "The boys need to work out their aggression, I guess. Don't worry. Naruto can take a hit."

"Why didn't you mention Sasuke getting hit?" Naruto asked, and then frowned. "Oh, sensei! That's not nice!"

"Just the facts, Naruto." He smiled, though it was hard to tell through his mask. "Fine, then." His gaze was suddenly sharp. "Don't kill him, Naruto."

"No promises."

* * *

"Hidan. That was his name." The clone sighed – he wasn't sure if it was worse that he was talking to himself, or that he was doing so because he missed having another self to speak to. Trying to ignore the insanity angle, he raised a hand. Two clones were almost immediately beside him, falling in line behind the team leader who was elected purely based on the fact that he was a little more annoyed than the others. He turned to the next clone over. "This guy's shtick is his big-ass scythe and his special immortality skill. Think Kyūbi in overdrive – instead of healing really quickly, he just doesn't really notice the wounds at all."

"Another Kakuzu, then?"

"Without the masks or hearts business," the first clone agreed, taking over from the one that had popped before. "It's immortality of some fashion. Luckily he needs blood to do anything too nasty, and we're only clones. Maybe we can lure him away from the base or something."

"So – if he's immortal, how did Shikamaru kill him?" one of the others inquired. "Did he ever tell?"

"He mentioned rocks."

"That's his one weakness? _Rocks_?" The first clone wondered. "That seems unlikely."

"Let's just put a Rasengan through his head," another clone countered immediately. "Nothing stands up from that, if you get a good hit in."

"Right – but we aren't with that many," the first muttered. "Rasengan is one option. Maybe someone can throw some rocks at him, just in case?"

"That still sounds really stupid."

"Yes – well, I'm not seeing you come up with anything clever, idiot."

"Why do you keep insulting yourself like this?"

The first clone sighed as he ran a hand across his face. "Let's have one of us fetch the clones from the base, so we have a little backup. The rest can serve as distractions with giant whirling chakra spheres of death."

"Yes, clone commander!"

"Clone commander? When did I….? Never mind." He sighed. "You – upside down me – stay out of that guy's way and make your way to the base. The rest of us will try and draw him off."

"Right." The clone in question saluted, dropping from his inverted position on a tree branch and lading lightly. He tapped his breast pocket that contained the little vial that they had brought along and smiled. "I already have all I need."

"Good. Now, let's try not to rush this guy, alright? We all have a bit of the Boss's common sense, after all. Everyone, use a Henge, change into one of the gate guards or something. Don't want this guy blabbing about us to anyone. If he does end up talking, well, let him do it. Boss will want to know everything that's going on."

"Right." About thirty voices said at once from everywhere; only about a third of the clones were actually visible. They all raised their hands into a single seal, and the thirty-odd orange Genin changed into the same number of Chūnin, though with more orange in their uniform than there really was supposed to be. The curious glances that the various clones sent each other confirmed it – they had all had the exact same idea.

"We really are the same person. So, nobody do anything stupid, as it reflects badly on all of us."

"Does preaching count? Because you're doing it!"

"What did I _just_ say?"

* * *

Sasuke stopped at the Jōnin training grounds with an annoyed expression, gazing around the nondescript field with distaste. It was out of the way, sure, about the furthest you could go without actually leaving Konoha entirely, but honestly didn't look much different from any other training field.

"Okay, now can you tell me what we're doing here?" Sasuke stretched his leg, wincing slightly as a sharp pain made its way through the muscle. Yes, it was healed, but the stiffness was definitely something he could do without. "At least my leg gets a good workout from this."

"What happened to that leg, anyway?" Naruto asked. "Kakashi-sensei won't tell me what happened. Did someone break into your home and attack you or something?"

Sasuke looked away. "Didn't we already discuss this when you broke into the hospital?"

"You didn't say anything then, either!"

"Then stop asking. It wasn't something you need to know about, and it's been handled." He sighed. "I'd like to forget it altogether."

Naruto frowned darkly. "At least tell me that someone's taking care of whoever put you in that bed?"

"Why do you care?"

Naruto didn't answer immediately, sitting down against a tree on the side of the field and sighing. "You're an aggravating person, Sasuke. Now, give me a few minutes, will you? Need to concentrate. If I mess this up, I might become seriously crazy, so don't mess with my focus."

Sasuke looked at his teammate in confusion, and Naruto just smiled reassuringly before he closed his eyes for meditation. The field was silent for a few minutes, and Sasuke stuck around, gazing at his teammate as he twitched and moved slightly on occasion, definitely not what one was supposed to do during meditation. It took a little while longer before Naruto suddenly flipped upright from his prone position, a kunai gleaming in his hand.

"So, Sasuke," Naruto smirked. "I'm ready."

Sasuke blinked. "…For our fight?"

"In a way," Naruto said slowly, drawing three kunai and arraying them without looking between his knuckles, like three lethal claws. "Trust me," he said after a moment, a brief smile appearing before his expression turned serious, and his eyes gleamed. "You're going to die."

"What…?" Sasuke barely had a moment to prepare before Naruto slashed out, his kunai nicking his shoulder before he even had time to deflect. The attack was incredibly fast, and a second immediately followed, leaving three parallel stripes across Sasuke's hand just as he tried to parry the blow. He cried, tripping backwards. "What the hell, Naruto?"

"Fight back," Naruto growled. "It's no fun when you just die like the rest."

Sasuke got back up with his own kunai out. "Have you gone completely insane, dead-last?"

The blows rained down at such speed that Sasuke needed both his hands just to keep them from coming. Naruto wasn't terribly fast, but he was viciously tricky with his slashes, like he already knew exactly where the blocks would be, where he had put his blade to counter. Jumping back from the raging blond, Sasuke raised his hands. Before he could make the signs for a fire technique, Naruto was upon him again, taking advantage of the momentary weakness, cutting a long gash through his vest that just missed the skin.

Sasuke went for a vicious counterattack, enjoying the sudden savageness of Naruto's attacks. The boy always had a lot of energy to spend, but he usually kept it in. Perhaps he had simply gone too long without a serious challenge? Sasuke smiled, slipping into the Uchiha Taijutsu style that he had been taught for years. He could make this work.

Naruto snarled like a wild animal. An uneasy feeling of dread formed in the pit of Sasuke's stomach as he stared at the boy who was looking more and more like a beast every moment; like a vicious cat. The look in his eyes wasn't one of friendly competition, not even of rivalry. All he saw was bloody rage, murderous instincts brought to the front. Then the feeling intensified, and his kunai trembled in his hands. There was a palpable feeling of despair in the air.

_Killing Intent._

"Naruto, that's enough," Sasuke said warily, and his voice wavered. "We don't have to get this serious. It's just training."

Naruto stalked forward menacingly, his kunai dropping to the ground as he brought up his hand, tipped now with viciously pointed fingernails. "Training, huh? Tell me, _Uchiha,_ what will you be worth when I _rip out your eyes?"_

Sasuke stepped back in alarm. "What's gotten into you?" He hated how his voice faltered. Naruto looked like he was serious, and he had taken him to one of the most distant training grounds. Was he actually planning to- No, that was crazy. Naruto wouldn't just _kill _someone. Would he?

Naruto didn't answer in words. The Killing Intent in the air suddenly skyrocketed, and Sasuke couldn't take a breath. The feeling was like the deepest fear he had ever felt, like he could roll up in a ball and never uncurl again. It felt like something massive and inhuman looked down on him with hungry eyes, ready to devour everything in its path. For a brief moment he felt again like he'd done that day when Itachi had left, when his family had been murdered. He felt like death was upon him, like he would never breathe again. Tears prickled in his eyes as he tried desperately to move. Naruto stood out sharply, like he was etched into the sky. His teeth were sharp and vicious, the marks on his cheeks like scars ripped into his skin, his eyes like a snake's, filled with such indescribable loathing that he couldn't believe it.

Then the world collapsed, the storm ended. The terror was suddenly gone, Sasuke's breath returned to him, and he lay gasping on the ground, staring into the blue sky. Very slowly he sat up, to find that Naruto was _right there_, sitting four feet away with his legs folded and a tired smile on his face. "So, it worked. I figured it would."

"_What the hell was that?"_

"Fear," Naruto said immediately, shrugging. "Tell me, Sasuke. Was it the worst fear you ever felt, caused by that dose of Killing Intent? I think it must have been. For a moment you had such intense hate turned on you that you couldn't deal with it. You didn't run, but only because you couldn't."

"What the –"

"Think of it as a genjutsu," Naruto explained. "It caused intense fear, even the conviction that you were going to die, if only for a brief moment. It's something that's almost impossible to replicate outside actual combat conditions, since knowing ahead of time that someone's going to do something like this ruins the effect. That's why I didn't tell you. The fact that you didn't know if I was serious is the only reason that you actually believed it." Naruto sighed. "Tell me, how many other shinobi are near us right now?"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke blinked slowly, as something suddenly stuck out to him about what he was seeing. The world was sharper, more defined, and he could see vague blotches. The answer was easy. "_Two_."

Naruto smiled. "How do you know that?"

"I can… see…" His eyes widened. "I can _see them._"

The Sharingan! He had activated the Sharingan at last. For a moment he wanted to laugh in victory, celebrate this accomplishment; then the reality crashed down. All it meant was that he was a step closer to killing Itachi, who had removed everyone who would have cared about this occasion. There was nobody to share this with.

"Come on, I'll treat you to ramen to get you back on your feet, and then we'll go see if anyone's willing to let you test-drive the copy ability," Naruto said easily, trying to lighten the mood a little. "Maybe we can convince Kakashi-sensei to _Shunshin _us to Ichiraku's, actually, since I don't feel like walking back. _Or_ maybe Pervert Sage could take us on a toad, who knows?"

Well, maybe not quite _nobody._ Slowly he put up his hand, and he was pulled to his feet by the deceptively strong Naruto with ease.

"…Thank you."

"No problem, teammate," Naruto replied seriously. "So, will you tell me what happened last week, now?"

Sasuke smirked. "No."

* * *

**Author's Note:** It took a long time since WaS and tWfE were updated a bunch of times before this one. :)


	11. Blood for the Blood God

**Chapter 11 - Blood for the Blood God**

Sasuke was quiet as he ate, and Naruto wasn't sure what to say to him. His cup of delicious ramen was a welcome distraction as he considered what to do; with Sasuke's Sharingan activated, he knew the boy would soon be back on the trail of finding and taking out Itachi, even if that attitude had been tempered a little of late.

Itachi would be a problem. Even though Naruto knew that he had slain the Uchiha clan for a pretty good reason: Imminent betrayal of Konoha. That didn't help in getting Sasuke away from his revenge-centred life. Finding Itachi would solve few problems, since short of telling him everything about his time travelling, there weren't many things Naruto could think of that would convince him to return to the village. With his eyes deteriorating, it was a fairly safe bet that Itachi would die even in this time, one way or another.

"Now that I helped you get those fancy eyes, and you insist on keeping your mouth shut on whatever embarrassing thing happened to you, will you at least deign to train with me and Sakura?" Naruto asked at last, glancing over his steaming ramen to the Uchiha beside him. "I stand by what I told you in the hospital."

Sasuke stared at him for a long moment, and then nodded. "I will."

"Good! Meet me at the Hokage's tower later tonight, then." Naruto stretched as he emptied his cup. "If you see Sakura-"

"I'll tell her." Sasuke stood at last. He stopped before he walked off, looking back. "Don't think I owe you one."

"Are you kidding me? Of course you do!" Naruto said, laughing softly. "Having you in my debt is _great._ So many things I can blame on you, and you won't be able to deny them..." He smirked at Sasuke's annoyed expression. "Go try out that Sharingan of yours – I know you're dying to do so. But try not to exhaust your chakra too much, alright?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and left. Well, the boy was still short on words and gloomy, but that wasn't much of a surprise. The Uchiha family was the prime source for overly emotional drama queens, after all.

Naruto was completely unsurprised when less than half a cup of ramen later, Kakashi walked up beside him and sat down on the next chair. He was fairly certain it wasn't a clone, but he figured stabbing the man with a kunai to find out was probably rude.

"Are you going to yell at me for what I did out there, Kakashi-sensei?" he asked after a long silence, staring at his half-empty bowl. "I know you or your clone was there, at the training field. You must have seen everything."

Kakashi leaned against the counter, with his one visible eye glancing lazily in Naruto's direction. "Do you think I _should_ yell at you, Naruto? Guilty conscience?"

"Maybe." Naruto shrugged as he glanced in the direction that Sasuke had gone. "I unlocked Sasuke's Sharingan, which was my goal, really. I'm sure if I'd failed, Sasuke would have gotten out of the team with the crazy murderer by morning." He smiled. "It worked, though! I think not even the council will move against me now. They're far too eager to lick the Uchiha's boots."

"The prestige of the clan has waned of late, so I wouldn't be so sure," Kakashi said easily. "You took a large risk in doing what you did, though. That much is true."

"Not big enough to stop me from trying," Naruto observed. "You knew what I was planning from the moment I mentioned the Jōnin training fields, didn't you? You let us go out there, well aware that I was going to do something you probably wouldn't like."

"I had my suspicions," Kakashi agreed after a moment. "My clone could barely keep from disintegrating out there, after you started _that_. The Kyūbi's chakra, so very tightly controlled, was wreaking havoc on its form. You are quite capable of channelling that power, it seems."

"That wasn't even a tail's worth of chakra," Naruto said softly. "I didn't really draw on the creature's power as such; that was just a side-effect of channelling a bit of its spirit. The fox's killing intent is greater than any I've ever heard about, so that's what I used. Concentrated hatred, even if tempered by the seal, is still very dangerous when used properly."

"To focus that much killing intent onto a single target..." Kakashi shook his head. "A weaker ninja might have cut himself to relieve the fear, or died of shock. If you had persisted any longer, Sasuke might have succumbed as well. It was a very dangerous game you played, out there. I would have stopped you if you had gone further."

"I know that," Naruto agreed. "You won't have to worry until you see me go three or four tails, though. That's when _it _starts getting any control." Naruto frowned. "Sasuke will want to test his eyes out against us, the next time we're all together. You wouldn't mind showing him a few minor jutsu? You probably have some good ones; you've copied a thousand of them, right?"

"I sort of lost count," Kakashi admitted sheepishly. "But yes, I will teach you all a few basic skills of each element, I suppose. Perhaps you could get a glimpse of your eventual elemental nature with those as well." He glanced to the ramen chef behind the counter as he got up. "Let's go take a walk."

Kakashi stepped out of Ichiraku's followed reluctantly by Naruto, who had only gobbled up half his usual amount of delicious ramen. They wandered down the broad street towards the calmer parts of town, and Naruto got suspicious. "Okay, this isn't towards my home. What's up, sensei?"

The silver-haired Jōnin glanced down at him with a lazy expression. "I'm curious, Naruto. Sometimes I think you're a Genin like any other, and you bicker and fight and do all the silly things that the others do. Then there are moments where you look at things like you're older than me." He glanced down to his student and smiled. "You had a difficult youth, I know that. How are you coping with being a ninja?"

Naruto looked away uncomfortably. "I've had to grow up more than I maybe would have liked, I guess. Pervy Sage isn't too different from me, though. He has his fun side, and his serious side. _Really_ serious." He thought back to the times that he'd trained with Jiraiya in his original three year trip, especially with the Kyūbi's chakra. The man could be ruthless when he wanted to be, and how much of the 'pervert' act was genuine was hard to tell. "I guess I'm not that different."

"Insanity is not uncommon among shinobi," Kakashi agreed glibly.

Naruto frowned. "Very funny."

"I thought so." Kakashi said with a grin, digging into his pocket and pulling out his volume of Icha Icha. "Jiraiya of the Sannin has had a long and rich ninja career, much of which required him to become ruthless on demand; you are just beginning. You should not feel jaded enough already to have coping mechanisms. It is very unhealthy."

"Says the man who started aping his dead teammate," Naruto muttered caustically, and he winced as he realized a moment later what he'd said. Not only shouldn't he know that, but this particular Kakashi definitely hadn't gotten over that particular tragedy yet. Stupid, stupid. Naruto's hopes that his teacher hadn't heard vanished when he saw the man's pinched expression.

"You know a lot about _that_." he said hollowly.

"You already know I've stolen scrolls from the tower," Naruto countered wearily. "Did you really think the _Third Shinobi World War_ wouldn't be in there? Or information on one of the most famous shinobi of the Hidden Leaf that came out of that period? Honestly..."

"What happened is not the concern of Genin," Kakashi said darkly. "That sort of information is dangerous in the wrong hands. Your status as Jinchūriki already makes you a target, do not make it worse by making it public knowledge that you have read classified information." Kakashi glanced around uneasily. "I might know a lot, but there are many who don't. You never know what might be traced back to you."

"Right. Like what's going on in Suna." Naruto enjoyed the moment of surprise on Kakashi's face. "I hear quite a bit, you know."

"_Already_? From who?"

Naruto shrugged. "Is that important? They're rumours. Pervy Sage slipped a few things, for one; he came back because of something to do with the Kazekage, after all. It's not hard to make those connections. Suna wants to strengthen the alliance between our villages? Let them."

"You're getting a bit too similar to Jiraiya now," Kakashi muttered. "Don't take that analogy from the hospital literally, alright?"

Naruto hummed in agreement as an idea came to him. Jiraiya had given him a sealed book like that one to figure out; if there was one expert on the Icha Icha series, it had to be Kakashi, who had a full collection displayed in the Hokage office during his reign. Maybe it would also help make up for his thoughtlessly cruel mention of Kakashi's history. "I wondered if you could offer me some advice..." He pulled out his copy of Icha Icha, keeping the cover hidden. "I'm supposed to figure out a way to open this book, and I thought maybe you would have some tips."

Kakashi's eye went wide as he looked on the innocuous object. "Is that a _new volume_? Give it to me! Now!"

Naruto blinked at the sudden enthusiasm. "It's sealed shut." He handed it over carefully. "Here, try to open it. You'll see."

The Jōnin flipped the book open, and immediately started reading it, smiling and snickering lecherously after mere moments. He'd just flipped it open in the middle somewhere, and off he went. Well, this was new. "Why didn't it close on its own for you?" Naruto exclaimed.

Kakashi glanced up in confusion. "Huh? Did you say something?"

Naruto just stared blankly at his teacher. "Can I have my book back? Jiraiya-sensei must have keyed it to my chakra or something."

"What book are you talking about?" He followed Naruto's eyes and glanced back down at his hands. "Ah, is this a new Icha Icha volume? A godsend!" Immediately he dived back into the pages.

"That's not normal, even for sensei," Naruto muttered. "Genjutsu?" Kakashi didn't seem at all phased by the fact that his student walked around him curiously, trying to dispel whatever effect the seals in the book might be having on his teacher. If it was capable of ensnaring Kakashi, it had to be a pretty powerful seal. After the third lap, he tapped the man on his shoulder, and again. At the third tap, he cleared his throat.

"Oh, Naruto. What is it?"

Naruto didn't even comment this time; he snatched the book out of his teacher's hands and put it back in his jacket in the same movement. "Jiraiya must have expected this. He put a seal in here that would entrance you." Or you're an even bigger perv than I thought, he silently added. "I guess this one's my own problem to solve."

Kakashi looked mildly confused, rubbing his eye. "I feel like someone interrupted me in the middle of a really good, nice, supple..." He coughed. "Sorry, I guess I'm a bit tired. I need a bath."

"You should get some rest, then," Naruto said, frowning. "You'll be at the tower, right? The C-rank and everything?"

Kakashi nodded. "If you see Sakura, tell her that I have prepared a new training exercise for her. I believe you'll be impressed the next time you see her fight. That girl packs a wallop, I tell you."

"I will," Naruto said, and the Jōnin finally walked off as he pondered why Jiraiya would put a seal on his book to prevent it from being read by this particular person. Presumably this was the second seal, besides the one that worked on Naruto himself. But why _Kakashi? _For his knowledge of the Icha Icha novels? Doubtful; Naruto had just hoped to get a hint. Kakashi-sensei had never really seemed the type to use Fūinjutsu a lot...

"The Sharingan," Naruto said in realization. As a bloodline limit able to see through many genjutsu, it would probably be able to ignore the effect of the genjutsu on the book. Kakashi was the only one that could reasonably be expected to have those eyes. Jiraiya, however, hadn't anticipated a new development: Sasuke. Now, how would he get the _Uchiha_ to read Pervy Sage's raunchy writings?

Through the elation of figuring something out, Naruto felt a chill run down his back. Uneasily he rubbed his stomach, though all he felt were phantom pains, the confusion of his inner Fox more so than his own. He knew why, of course, since he'd received the memories of one of the clones he'd sent to Gaara; his little clone army had found someone at the Fourth's hidden base, possibly an Akatsuki member. Unfortunately, even at his best speed, the confrontation would be over long before he could be anywhere near the base. Besides, he couldn't just vanish from Konoha again, not so quickly after the last mess.

He had to arrange a C-rank mission for his team, preferably a tough one, and he doubted he'd be handed much more leeway than he'd already received for his recent actions. He needed his teammates to be ready for when the next shinobi war burst loose, and he had no illusion that it wouldn't, even with the changes he'd made. International politics were a _mess._

A C-rank had been extremely important for the team the last time around, in Wave; perhaps it could be again. Back then, Sasuke had still cared enough then to jump in the way of Haku's senbon, possible endangering his own life to save his teammate. If he could reform that mutual respect, Naruto knew he had a shot at preventing the Uchiha's eventual defection from Konoha. Sasuke had gotten _very_ strong outside the village; perhaps he could do even better within it.

Sakura would need to get better as well, and quickly. She was the weakest of the team, though the comparison was a bit unfair, given her team members' special situations. Still, he couldn't let that status quo persist. With her physical training already enhanced by Kakashi's Taijutsu lessons, grounding in medical Ninjutsu and Genjutsu might just be enough to turn her from a brawler into the support that the team would need on any B-rank missions or higher. He was planning quite a ways ahead, true, but they'd get there soon enough, if he could help it. The Third, he knew now, could be ruthless.

If Team 7 could get good enough in a short time period, really stand out, then perhaps there would be no need to participate in the coming Chūnin Exams either, or they'd steam right through them. The Exams were a large distraction to his goals, and more a propaganda piece than any real test of skill; he knew of other ways to go up in the ranks, and one of those was exemplary performance on the battlefield. That could work. With Orochimaru prevented from interfering too directly, he doubted it would be half as exciting as last time, anyway.

Memories filtered into Naruto's head so quickly that he almost stumbled; he couldn't hold in a curse, and got a few odd looks from people who passed him in the street. He ignored them as he focused on what he remembered.

_A kunai dug itself deep into a man's side, a clone's fist almost vanishing into the gaping wound. A surprised look on his target's face turned into a sinister smile – then the whirling blades of a scythe cut the clone in half._

* * *

Hidan sneered. "Well, this is just _boring,_" he said, feeling at the cut in his side and rolling his eyes. "You sent a clone to stab me in the gut, you invisible bastard? Don't have the balls to attack me yourself, do you?" He stared around, weaving his scythe back and forth with a scowl. "Where are you, dishonourable prick?"

Naruto's clones remained very silent, arrayed in a half circle around the clearing that Hidan occupied, only a few dozen feet from the subterranean passage that led to the Fourth's secret hideout. Hidan stood within a large circle and triangle he had drawn on the ground, and none of the clones dared to get so close; the configuration vaguely resembled a seal, though Naruto didn't recognize it, and he didn't want to end up risking his real self to what it might do.

"Come on; get out here so I can kill you. Thanks to you I have to stitch my side together again. It hurts like a bitch!" He poked at his side, pouting. "Right in my pretty side, too."

Two kunai flashed out of the bush from opposite sides; Hidan only barely avoided them by stepping backwards. The moment the two blades crossed paths, the explosive tags attached to them detonated, and the grey-haired shinobi flipped backwards away from the sudden blast, though he didn't get out completely unharmed; the skin on his arms looked singed from the sudden flash of heat. "What the hell? Stop attacking me, shithead!"

"He is quite the potty mouth," one clone muttered in annoyance; he was unofficially their leader. He'd tied his hitai-ate around his neck and vaguely resembled Iruka, though he had Kakashi's weird hair. "He also seems slow, for a supposedly elite rogue ninja. I mean, slow enough that we could probably keep up, even."

"Well, he's immortal, he doesn't need speed," a second clone retorted dryly. "He just waits till you attack and then kills you right back. You end up in pieces, he's fine. It's not the best tactic against clones, though he can pop them pretty well at close range. Long-range bombardment seems the way to go."

The leader clone narrowed his eyes. "What I don't get is why is he just standing there, doing nothing? If he knows that getting close in range is his advantage, why doesn't he used that? Any proper Akatsuki member would have retaliated already, right? It's like he doesn't know..." his eyes widened, and his knuckles turned white from tightening his grip on his kunai. "He's not _from_ Akatsuki."

"What?"

"Don't you get it?" the leader whispered sharply, staring through the bushes at his target. "He's not an Akatsuki member yet_._ That's why he's not wearing the robe or the silly nail paint, or any of that. We've caught him before he ever joined in the first place."

"And we just attacked him in cold blood," another clone muttered in realization. "Yay for the home team?"

The leader bristled. "He's still a missing nin. He's got a slashed hitai-ate. If we kill him, we can get a tidy reward _and_ hamstring Akatsuki when they go recruiting."

"On top of that, we have to clear the entrance," another agreed. "Killing him seems the best way to do it, I suppose."

"Right. We have something like thirty clones here, and about twenty more inside, right? I would suggest that everyone gets some explosive kunai and goes over their long-ranged Ninjutsu. Keep the jutsu common. Wind blasts, that kind of thing. We wouldn't want him to get too suspicious. Make sure to cover all angles, not just the direction of the underground base. If he doesn't know about it, then we have a surprise from in there."

All the clones nodded their agreement.

Moments later, six of them burst out of the undergrowth with jutsu already prepared, aiming for their target. Hidan was ready for anything, poised and wielding his scythe like a gigantic hacksaw, and he saw the obvious attack coming. The first two cutting wind blades flashed by him, easily dodged; the third hit his wounded side, but it didn't do much damage. The ragged hole didn't slow the man down even the tiniest bit, and the three blades he wielded shot out towards the offending clones, missing entirely.

"Now you're pissing me off – and when I get pissed off, I start butchering people!" Hidan narrowed his eyes as he took in the six shinobi arrayed against him. "A bunch of would-be ninja, the lot of you. Which of you punk-asses is the leader?"

"I am." The vaguely Iruka-like clone stepped forward. "You are a Missing-nin. We are here to claim your bounty."

The rogue ninja chuckled. "Hah, even after so very many deaths, you still haven't learned not to approach me, fools? The ritual has already begun; there is no stopping it now. Jashin-sama will be sated." He leaned on his scythe lazily. "You Konoha folk never get the message, do you?"

"What are you doing in the Land of Fire?" the clone asked sharply. Perhaps he could wiggle out a few facts, just in case. "What is your purpose here?"

"Just doing someone a favour," Hidan said after a moment, pulling a face. "It didn't include any killing. I was so disappointed. Still, I think I'm beginning to like this mission." He glanced around the group carefully, taking in each attacker. "So many of you will die here, today. I have seen it already."

"Here for a favour, you say? For whom?" The clone raised an eyebrow. "If you are but a subordinate, it implies your master is more powerful. Give me a name."

Hidan sighed. "You know, this talking thing isn't really working. Can we get to the killing already?" He shook his head when he received no reply. "I have no master but mighty Jashin-sama! For him, I will finish this ritual." He stepped back into his seal circle. "You are all dead men before _his_ eyes!"

The scythe whirled through the air at speed, and only some quick movement on the clones' part kept them from being wounded. The blades of the scythe were clearly designed to slide off weapons; not necessarily to really hurt with a swing, but to slice past flesh; it was made to draw blood. Unfortunately, Shadow Clones weren't stable enough to take a hit like that.

Hidan seemed to catch on to the evasion tactics quickly, and scowled. "So, you are aware of the ritual's power, aren't-"

The clones didn't wait for Hidan to finish his question; three solid kicks landed squarely on his torso and he was blown off his feet; his scythe was ripped out of his hand and one of the clones quickly kicked it out of reach. Before Hidan could get up, a fourth clone flipped through hand signs at speed. "_Fūton: Shinkūgyoku_!"

Three spheres of concentrated air smashed into the Missing-nin, knocking him across the ground. Three huge and nasty-looking circular wounds marked his chest as he caught his breath, getting back to his feet. "Damn it, where the hell did they find _you? _Wind users in the Land of Fire?" He stood up straight, leaving his wounds undisturbed. "You're going to pay for this shirt, you know."

"Shut the hell up," the leader clone muttered, raising his kunai as he concentrated it with wind chakra. "Just give up."

Hidan paused. He turned slightly, sniffing the air. A wicked smile crossed his face. "Ah, interesting..."

Two blasts of water rocketed out of the underbrush. Managing to evade the first, the second caught Hidan and sent him stumbling, though he easily caught himself. A moment later the lead clone's wind-chakra kunai was slammed into Hidan's side though, and he was forced down. The clone pinned Hidan's skin to the ground solidly with the same weapon; a second followed, spiking a hand to the ground as well.

"Nice ambush," the leader clone said as more than a dozen others gathered from the bushes, keeping kunai ready. "Now, _Hidan,_ I think it's time we talked."

"Seriously? No. Shut the fuck up," Hidan snapped, ripping his hand free; a new kunai immediately flashed by, pinning the hand right back to the ground. "Damn it!"

"Who are you working for?"

"None of your business!" he spat. "You're not even a person, are you? You're a duplicate. A _fake_."

The clone raised an eyebrow. "Perceptive. However, given your particular specialty, it seemed prudent." Mostly he didn't have any other options, the clone reflected.

The man scowled, as if he'd just understood that particular limitation of his power. "The originals will die for this, you hear? Every single one of you will..." His eyes widened when he noticed just how similar the people across from him where. "There's only one of you. That's how you communicate with just a look." He gazed warily at the two dozen shinobi gathered around him. "You have a lot of chakra, if these are all solid..."

"Your master. Does he wear a mask?" Naruto asked sharply. Hidan didn't react. Not Tobi, at least. Another thought occurred to him then; another person who might have a hand in things. "How about a snake's face, then?"

Hidan snarled, eyes blazing. "I'll kill you, bastard!"

Orochimaru. Well, that was interesting to say the least, and it made some sense. Perhaps, when Suna interrupted their alliance with Sound, Orochimaru went on to other plans. Hidan had doubtlessly been a ninja for hire, or in debt to the Snake Sannin, hence the 'favour'. There was only one thing anywhere nearby that would require a high-ranking shinobi to retrieve, though, and it wasn't a bunch of clones. The removal of Gaara had been noticed. "So, _that man_ sent you after the Jinchūriki, didn't he?"

Hidan stilled, glaring. "The blood, the bloody scent of infected sand, it trails from Suna all the way here, and then it vanishes. What did you Konoha bastards do to him?"

Of course: Gaara's sand. Saturated with all that blood from all of his victims, it would mix with the soil around him, even when unconscious. He hadn't placed the seal to block the Ichibi's chakra until the base, so all along the way here; he'd left a little trail. Even a few cells must have been enough for Hidan to track it, as he specialized in blood-related rituals. Hidan alone probably wasn't to capture Gaara, only to track him. Was Orochimaru a member of Akatsuki still? Hadn't he left when Itachi arrived?

"The Ichibi Jinchūriki is safe," the clone said after a moment, figuring that was the safest claim to make here that wasn't actually a lie. "Your target is beyond your reach."

"We'll see about that." Hidan said sharply. "You bastard! You know what I'll do to your original?" he spat, livid. I'll rip his spine out through his throat! And then I'll decapitate his corpse!"

"I'd like to see you try."

Hidan suddenly smiled. He was free in an instant; the kunai he'd been pinned with remained in the ground, the hand that it was keeping stuck ripped neatly in two halves. Hidan jumped harshly on one of the clones nearest to the base, all the way in the back. Panicked eyes only caught the approach a moment before it hit, and the clone was knocked down and popped from the impact.

Everything froze for a moment. A tiny vial dropped to the ground as its keeper was suddenly gone.

The vial containing the Boss's blood.

The clone that held it was supposed to go to the Fourth Hokage's base, to warn the rest of the clones inside. Why was he near the fight? How had Hidan known precisely which clone to go for out of all of them? Had he _smelled_ the blood? It was too late to change things, though. Hidan snatched the vial out of the air, cackling, and ripped it to pieces. Then he licked his bloodied fingers.

"Don't let him hurt himself!" the leader clone warned sharply as he jumped forward, snatching Hidan by a limb. They all knew what had happened the last time around, when Asuma had fallen to this technique. "Everyone, hold him tight! We can't let him use that ritual!"

Hidan's skin transformed from pink to black with bone-white colouring all across, his eyes feverish with delight. "Oh, you are already too late! The ritual has already begun! What idiots are you, to bring the very ingredient of your downfall?" He cackled as he was pinned by ten different clones.

Something had gone wrong. That clone wouldn't have walked outside with the blood sample. It would have known the risk as well as any of them did, and it was not nearly old enough to go mad. Was it karma, that something had to go wrong after a lot of luck? Or was Hidan not alone out here?

Things went to hell before the leader clone could work through the thought. Without anyone even touching it, Hidan's scythe whirled through the air from where it had been left behind. Instead of hitting a clone – that would have been preferable – The massive blade sliced into Hidan's forearm and stuck there; the man laughed hysterically as all the clones wavered. A large shape coalesced on the ground, as if appearing from nowhere; a blood circular shape, several times bigger than the one he occupied earlier.

"Let the pain begin," Hidan whispered with a cruel smile.

* * *

Naruto collapsed to his knees with a cry. His arm felt like someone had ripped it off, like someone had torn into it with a ragged knife. He raised it in alarm and blanched as blood poured out from a cut that went straight through, one that had appeared out of nowhere. Even with his extraordinary healing the wound wasn't closing fast enough; he began to feel light-headed and clamped his clothes down on the wound as he dragged himself to the door. The world seemed to be spinning, and he forced himself to move on anyway.

Sakura, he thought hazily. He needed her medical jutsu _now. _Before he could rethink it he vanished in _Shunshin_, hastening to the hospital. She'd be there, he was certain. The wound stopped bleeding a little as he moved, but he'd probably left a trail all across town.

He ran into the emergency room with a face pale as a sheet, and one of the medical ninja on staff hastened himself to his side with remarkable concern in his eyes, whereas others seemed far too occupied looking in every other direction.

"What happened? This wound..." the dark-haired medic asked sharply, pushing his glasses up his nose as he looked at Naruto's bloody arm dispassionately. "Who did this to you?"

"Not here," Naruto muttered, not sure what exactly to say. He could only come to one conclusion on why this was happening, and it was _horrifying_. The one thing that he thought he didn't have to worry about must have happened. "I think it's going to happen again. It's happening from a _distance_."

The medic looked concerned as he quickly led Naruto along past several nurses that looked at him with narrowed eyes. He even passed Ino, and half-heartedly waved to her as he moved into a large side-room. Closing the door, the Medical-nin activated a seal grafted besides it, and the noise from outside suddenly vanished. Privacy seals. At least the man had gotten his hint, then.

"Medic-Ninja confidentiality, right?" Naruto asked, his mind clearing a little. Sakura wasn't here; of course she wasn't. She wouldn't be a medic for years to come, if at all. Damn it, he still wasn't quite thinking straight, was he? If he blurted anything he shouldn't... "Please? I don't want to alert half the village."

"Of course, of course. Unless it's something really huge, I think I can keep my silence." He smiled. "Come, let's get that wound cleaned up."

Naruto rubbed his arm as he ordered his thoughts. He'd need to be truthful, or he wouldn't get any treatment that would actually work. With Hidan out there, still in combat with his clones, he couldn't afford any delays.

"It's the Cult of Jashin," he blurted as he ripped back his sleeve, exposing where he'd been hit. The wound looked messy, ragged, but not nearly as bad as he had expected. It seemed hours old, not minutes, with dried blood around the edges. "They got some of my blood, and they're using it to harm me from afar."

His mind wandered back to that split second in which his blood had been spilt - only a few drops, but it was enough. He clearly remembered a clone popping right when Hidan jumped on him, but there was something horribly off - he didn't have _that _clone's memories at all. He figured he'd remember the black and white menace getting up into his personal space.

It hadn't been his clone at all. Somewhere between the time the clone left with his blood sample and the time the fake appeared at the fight, the vial had changed owners. Why, though, couldn't he remember being ambushed, then? It could only mean one thing: The original clone that he'd sent out was still around, or the attacker had figured out a way around the memory transfer function of a Shadow Clone. He couldn't be sure which right now, and popping clones didn't seem like a good idea either.

Naruto looked up nervously as the medic checked his pulse and dabbed at his wound, exposing the torn muscle tissue beneath the skin; it looked quite grisly. Thankfully, it would heal; as far as he knew, he could possibly suffer an amputation and regenerate thanks to the fox. The man looked up and shook his head, his pallor nearly matching Naruto's own. "_Jashin, you said_? In this age? What barbaric folk have taken up that superstition? The last I heard of it, it was supposed to have gone extinct..."

"At least one barbarian remains, I guess," Naruto said, wincing. Memories came to him in a rush, and he collapsed to his knees.

_The scythe sliced through the air as Hidan laughed. Below him, a second bloody symbol was burnt into the ground, a seal like the first, larger than the first. It didn't look like it was just blood; it glistened with chakra discharges._

"_You didn't think I was unprepared, shinobi? When I smelled you in the distance, I knew what I had to do."_

_Smelled him? That didn't make any sense. Beyond the fact that he was a clone, they'd all been against the wind, which would have prevented any scents of note to reach the man._

"_You have already fallen under my curse, now," Hidan continued. "The ceremony will now begin. Let's savour the utmost of suffering together!" He slashed down with his scythe, embedding it deep within his leg, smiling dangerously. "You'll taste that pain. The pain that will kill you."_

_He ripped his weapon free and the clones wavered again, their chakra unstable as the connection between them and the original shuddered. In that split second, Hidan slashed one of them into pieces._

Naruto panted and screamed as his leg was ripped open, three long wounds erupting from front to back, as if the weapon was right there with them. Without even realizing it he called on Kurama's chakra, on his power. His teeth sharpened, his eyes turned to slits, the scars on his cheeks seemed suddenly as if they were engraved there. The intense surge of chakra found the wounds, and within moments they began to close, though it wasn't as quick and painless as he would have liked. Flesh knitted back together forcefully, and he could only barely keep in a pained yelp.

"Extraordinary, I have only seen such speed of recovery in Tsunade-sama, never in someone who wasn't a medic of the highest order..." the medic said to himself, adjusting his glasses again, and only then seemed to realize he had a patient lying on the floor. He quickly pulled up a stretcher. "Can you hop on?"

"Does it _look_ like I can?" Naruto said with a groan, but he dragged himself up on his other foot, keeping his weight off the injured leg.

"That's good," the medic said carefully as he helped his patient up. Naruto ended up sitting on the bed with his leg stretched out besides him, the other dangling down. "This is fine, I can reach the wounds. But - with this Jashin ritual still happening, I don't know how much it helps to cover the symptoms."

"Can you break the connection?" Naruto asked sharply, teeth chattering. "If my attacker gets too far with this, I'll _die!"_

The medic nodded, frowning. "Jashinism is an ancient religion. I didn't think it was followed anymore, or its rituals preserved." He walked to his desk, glancing over a vast collection of scrolls arrayed against the walls. "It has been decades since anyone has been exposed to such techniques in Konoha. Finding it now is remarkable, especially while it is in progress. Wondrous, really."

"Can you break it, or not?" Naruto asked again, his voice raw from Kurama's influence. It was better than bleeding out, he supposed. "I don't care what it does, I care about _not dying._"

"Breaking a connection forged in blood, well, that's very difficult," the medic said after a moment, glancing over with a knowing look. "I have scrolls on many malignant rituals, but I don't know if Jashin would be among them…" He paused. "I'll try, I promise."

"Thank you," Naruto responded carefully. "I appreciate that you care."

As he sorted through the piles of scrolls, the medic spoke again. "This chakra you're exuding... If it gets much more intense, ANBU will be all over this place."

"It's the Kyūbi's, I can't really help it right now." He winced as he rubbed his stomach - Kurama was mad, understandably. "It's not going to make a bit of difference for me if this Jashin guy stabs me anywhere fatal." The first time he'd ever almost died was at Kabuto's hands; a wound at his heart could have killed him outright, and not even Kurama could interfere. He didn't know if the same was true for his higher-tailed forms, but he certainly didn't want to unleash those in the middle of Konoha's hospital.

"You demon-hosts, you're quite something," the medic said, rifling through the scrolls in his little library as quickly as he could. "I knew another, you know. It's been a long time, but she was at the hospital quite a few times. She even installed a lot of the seals that we use around here, even today."

Naruto would have responded to that, but before he could, memories overran his mind.

"_Fūton: Daitoppa!" the clones yelled; four blasts of concentrated wind bowled Hidan over, smacking him solidly into the tree behind him with a cry. Horror filled their eyes as two of them vanished from the sudden surge of chakra unleashed by it._

"_Shit, it's not just his weapon! It's even our own attacks that hurt the Boss!"_

"_We need to break the link! If we can't get him out of the circle of his technique, then break the circle!"_

Naruto cried in pain as his back protested; he could practically feel the bark's rough texture. The medic skimmed scroll after scroll, discarding some until a small pile was beginning to form on the ground. The reddish chakra of Kurama bubbled around Naruto, searing the table. A single red tail emerged as he shuddered. Yeah, remaining unnoticed was unlikely at this point. He'd be lucky if he wasn't executed outright after this.

"You need to break this soon, old man!" Naruto exclaimed. He could feel the weakness in his body, and Kurama's rage from within the seal. Kurama knew what was going on, was aware that his life could be snuffed out in an instant. They hadn't prepared for this. Karma's revenge had come at last. Now the fox was smashing as much chakra as it could into his host's body, and it couldn't be stopped. Naruto knew he could maintain one tail, but for how long? When would his mind make way for the madness of his Bijū? Kurama wasn't the friend he remembered, not yet. He'd destroy the village if he broke out.

"Old man, eh?" the man chuckled as his eyes roved over his papers. "I am forty-one, I suppose that's old for a shinobi. When I was younger, I was the Raving Ryosuke, you know. I suppose I mellowed out some."

"You know, I understand that better than you probably imagine," Naruto muttered, grimacing.

Ryosuke smirked over his shoulder, then pulled out a new scroll, and paused. "Ah. Here we go." He glanced over his prize and scowled. "I need to know what seal the attacker is using. If they're not near here, then that's not going to work."

"It's a triangle in a circle!" Naruto said through clenched teeth. "I've seen it!"

Ryosuke's eyes widened as he unrolled the scroll he was holding and read on. "The wound transference ritual," he said, shaking his head nervously. He muttered under his breath as his eyes roved over the page. "This jutsu…"

_Hidan cackled as he cut himself again, slicing over his upper arm; the clones shuddered a last time, and then the Henge dissolved. A dozen black-and-orange-clad Naruto clones stared at him in horror._

"_Cover's blown - he'll need to die. We need to destroy the circles first," the leader clone ordered. "Blast them to little pieces, snap that scythe of his too." He shook his head. "He's a lot quicker than he's supposed to be, or we're a lot slower. What the hell is going on?"_

_The Rasengan burst through life in each hand, now that Hidan's fate was decided. The spinning spheres of chakra were combined with elemental chakra; howling wind overtook the clearing as Hidan hesitated, his eyes wide._

"_That jutsu- how can you…?"_

* * *

"What do we do?" One clone barked to the other as they paced by the opened passage. "He went out to check in with the others, but he's not coming back! Seriously, it's pissing me off!"

"They're fighting," a second agreed, shivering. "I think they're fighting!"

"Oh, right, you're the cowardly clone," the first muttered, sighing. "I knew we shouldn't have been relying on long-term clones. This is going so wrong it's not even funny!"

"He has gotten blood from the Boss," a third clone said. "We can't let him use that stuff." He turned with wide eyes. "If he kills the Boss, we all go."

The first clone paced. "Just running in there without a plan isn't sensible. We need a way to bind that bastard without hurting him. I wish we'd brought some ninja wire or something, but he's good enough to escape that stuff anyway. Maybe if the Boss was here, he could do something, but we were never meant to do combat, so there are not many supplies…"

"This guy's the slowest of the Akatsuki, but we're still not back up to what we used to be. We're between Chūnin and Jōnin maybe, but that guy is S-rank," the second clone said. "We can't use damaging Ninjutsu; you know what would happen if we did..."

The third clone cheered. "I know what we can do."

"What?"

His eyes moved meaningfully to Gaara, staring balefully at them from the same spot he'd been occupying for days. "I think we have just the person to bind someone up so they can't move, don't you think?"

"That's not going to work."

The clone shrugged. "We have to do _something,_ and that sand of his…"

* * *

"I've got it!" Ryosuke dropped his scroll on the table, biting his lip. "I'll need your blood, firstly. Chakra, too. I need to draw a symbol like the other one."

"My blood's got plenty of chakra in it, now," Naruto growled, ripping at his wrist with his teeth. The wound wanted to close over almost instantly, but a little blood pooled on the ground next to his stretcher, sparking with power.

"That will work," the man said faintly.

_The Rasengan barrage obliterated the first circle effortlessly, but the three aiming or the big one were deflected by Hidan's scythe as he cut neatly through each clone's wrist, popping them as they approached. Were they that slow compared to a Chūnin-level Shikamaru, that Hidan would seem fast to them? Or were the Boss's wounds messing with their stability? One of the other clones blasted his Rasegan down towards the bloody line, but as the blast rocked the earth, nothing changed; the line remained among the rubble, as if undisturbed. Protected by some kind of barrier technique, then?_

"_I think it is about time that we end this little game, don't you think?" Hidan smiled, keeping his distance from the remaining clones. "When the other person's agony at the final moment of death seeps into my body, the pain is transcendent and becomes the purest ecstasy!" He smiled viciously and raised his scythe for final cut, aiming for his own heart._

"No," Naruto whispered; the symbol on the floor was drawn, and Ryosuke was preparing the technique with care, his white medic's coat now dotted with fresh blood. "It needs to be _now! _Quickly!"

"You shouldn't hasten this," the man said. "If it fails, you don't get a second chance." He looked conflicted as he stared down at the scroll, his hands shaking. "This jutsu, it's..."

"If you're going to do it, it has to be now!" Naruto dropped off the stretcher, landing on the circle. He cried out as his leg burst alight with white-hot pain again, his arm so numb now that he wondered if there was any circulation at all. "If you don't, I'll die!" He was certain of that; Kurama was crying out in rage from behind its seal, but without the loosening that Jiraiya had done in his original three-year trip, it couldn't force any more tails to manifest. "Please!"

_The scythe slashed out, the clones cried out as they rushed to stop it. For a long moment it seemed like everything was frozen. Then, sand blasted across them in a tidal wave, popping the few that remained before Hidan, and covering the Jashinist entirely._

"_Mother desires blood," Gaara said as he stepped forward, a deranged smile on his face, and he shivered and twitched as he walked forward. "You will do. Yes, you will do."_

"_Don't kill him!" a clone yelled from behind him. "We need answers!"_

The medic flashed through hand signs, following his scroll. "This is more complicated than I thought... eighteen hand signs, high chakra cost." He finished, slapping his hands down on the edge of the circle. He smiled up at Naruto who was having trouble keeping Kurama's chakra from destroying everything, and nodded. "Make your father proud, boy."

The room exploded with light.

"_Don't do it!"_

_Gaara looked over with a bored expression, ignoring the struggling Hidan who was buried to his neck in sand. "Why should I spare this filth? Mother desires blood, and he has some."_

"_Let me go, you son of a whore!"_

"_He is also very rude," Gaara observed. He shook his head slowly. "Sabaku Sōsō," the boy intoned as he clasped his fingers together. The sand surrounding Hidan contracted suddenly, and a horrifying squishing sound could be heard. A wave of popping clones followed._

_It took a moment for things to quiet down. The few remaining clones turned to each other in surprise._

"_We're still..."_

Naruto sat up with a gasp. Kurama's chakra was gone, gobbled up by the jutsu in a single intense moment. The jutsu had sapped everything that had bubbled up inside him. The link was broken. Hidan hadn't managed to get his final strike in, after all. Relief washed over him as he dropped to his back. He survived, and Hidan was in no condition to fight, not anymore.

He turned to his side to thank his medic, and it felt like his heart stopped. He stared with wide eyes as his stomach revolted against the sight, against all the blood. The whole room, even he, were covered in a thin film of it.

He almost vomited as he crawled away in a panic from the collapsed form of his medic.

The curse. The ritual hadn't been to remove it entirely, but to move it to someone else. The medical ninja's body was crushed, and only his face was recognizable. He'd been killed in an instant, but he'd known that would happen. Naruto had asked him for help, and the man had done it, knowing it would cost him his own life.

His last words had been... _Make your father proud._

"No..." Naruto whispered to himself, eyes wide. "You knew about him. That's why you were so kind to me?" He looked at the crumpled form and shivered. Raving Ryosuke - he'd heard the name before, somewhere. A story that Jiraiya had told him, a lifetime ago.

Rage, unbridled rage ignited in his gut then. He didn't know when the medic had died, the last time around, but he certainly hadn't died like this. Saving his life, which shouldn't have been necessary in the first place. The vial with his blood should never have come close to Hidan at all; it should have been destroyed the instant that the door to the bunker was opened. Had it been a clone messing up? Doubtful. Hidan certainly didn't seem the type to manipulate such things. So, there was someone else. Someone who had helped Hidan out, but never showed himself. Someone keeping an eye out, without being seen.

A chill ran down his back, then. "_Zetsu_."

It was perhaps fitting that it was Sarutobi Asuma who burst in, then. He took only a moment to survey the scene. Naruto was propped up on an arcane symbol etched on the floor, covered in blood; the remnants of demonic chakra hung in the air; the desiccated corpse of a medic rested in a pool of blood, a sad smile frozen on his face. Asuma slammed the door closed, eyes wide.

"What happened here? " His eyes were wide as he brandished two knives. "What did you do?"

"He saved my life," Naruto said tiredly, and he suddenly couldn't see so well anymore – tears forced their way out as the world began spinning. Chakra exhaustion was catching up with him, it seemed. "He saved… my life."

Naruto collapsed forward, out like a light.

* * *

Three clones remained besides Gaara. Three clones that weren't in any state to fight; it was remarkable that they were around at all.

"Please, Gaara..." one begged. "Boss means well. He didn't bring you here to torture you, but to _help_ you."

Gaara winced as he turned, his eyes confused and pained. He gritted his teeth as he pressed a hand against his forehead, and the clones warily took a step back. "It hurts. Mother…" He looked up with those mad eyes, suddenly focusing on the clones. "The seal! Give it to me!"

One clone stepped forward quickly, hoping that it wasn't a trick. He retrieved one of the backup seals that the Boss had left behind, placing it gingerly on Gaara's seal; the boy didn't react. Then, with a moment of concentration, he activated it.

In the brief blue glow, Gaara's expression went from pain to relief, though it vanished beyond a mask of placidity a moment later. He looked coolly at the clones, but didn't attack them. Indeed, his shivers were gone, and all the sand around him dropped back to the ground, including the thin layer that had already started to rebuild his ultimate defence. That didn't make sense. Gaara hated being exposed like this, without his power. Why would he _want_ that seal?

"Where is your 'Boss'?" Gaara asked, staring out over the land with a focused stare. "Konoha?"

"Yes," one of the clones said nervously. "Please don't kill him?"

Gaara didn't respond to that, turning towards the direction of the village, as if he already knew exactly where he was. His eyes narrowed. "He is in my debt. I will make him repay his dues." He grinned then, and the psychotic look in his eyes spelled nothing good.

"Hey, bastards, I'm not dead yet!"

They all turned towards the voice. Hidan's voice. There, lodged partially in the pile of sand that Gaara had manipulated was a head, and only a head, glaring at them in anger.

"He's the opposite of a headless horseman," one clone quipped lightly. "What the hell do we do with him now?"

"He's a Missing-nin, remember," the second clone observed, frowning. "What's the process again? Deliver the head as proof, get our reward? I think this is about as good as we're liable to get with an immortal guy. We'll let Boss decide what to do with him, after shutting him up about what he saw out here." He shrugged as he picked the head up by its hair; Hidan cursed loudly. "What do you think? He'd make a good paperweight, wouldn't he?

The third pulled a seal from his pocket. "I've got just the thing to shut him up for a while."

"What?" Hidan asked, his skin turning pink again. His ritual was over. "No, damn it! You're not going to put me in-"

The scroll activated, and the head vanished.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Techniques used:

_Fūton: Shinkūgyoku == Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere  
Fūton: Daitoppa == Wind Release: Great Breakthrough  
Fūton: Rasengan == Wind Release: Rasengan  
Sabaku Sōsō == Sand Waterfall Funeral_


	12. Conspiracy

**Chapter 12 - Conspiracy**

It was almost morning again before the three clones got near Konoha, with Gaara following them at a sedate pace, clearly not used to travelling any significant distances at speed. In many ways his skills weren't far beyond Genin – he usually fought while standing still, and he didn't seem to care much for generic jutsu. The clones knew better than to underestimate him, though; if he got agitated, things could get quite messy, and Boss wasn't around to offer a counter-argument. Three clones were just going to end up popped.

Not that it seemed like combat was necessary. Gaara was behaving oddly, clearly uncomfortable without his sand protection, yet he seemed reluctant to remove the seal that blocked the demonic chakra from pouring out. The sand streamed to him like a waterfall whenever he did so, but it could barely form the protective barrier before he placed the seal back on again.

The clones had figured that removing the seal hurt, a lot. That much was obvious. For Gaara, pain was unusual to begin with; the intense agony of suddenly being exposed to the Ichibi's mind, never the most stable of the Bijū, had to be severe. The boy had gotten used to its presence, adapted to it, but those few days of rest must have been dramatically less stressful than the boy's usual life. Had this been true, before, in the other time? Or had the problem ever occurred, before Akatsuki removed Shukaku entirely?

So, if Gaara chose the mild discomforts of feeling unprotected over the agony of his tailed beast's chakra, which explained a few of his actions. His insistence to go towards Konoha was far more puzzling. The Hokage didn't know about the details regarding Gaara, nor Jiraiya, which would make his sudden appearance very strange. Even if the boy refrained from the brutal murders that seemed to be a primary motivation in this part of his life, a second jinchūriki in town would put forth a lot of questions that were tough to answer. The clones could probably hide him for a while; without demonic chakra, courtesy of the seal, he would be hard to track. That was hardly a solution, though.

"Yo, other clone," one of the three clones said as he pondered these questions. He paused when both of the others turned towards him. "Man, that's going to get old really fast, confusing each of us for the other. We need to figure out how to organize, you know?"

The second hesitated, then his face lit up. "How about we make up names? I mean, we've already got Naruko for the Sexy Jutsu girl, right?"

Gaara stared at the clone with a bland expression.

"Er... well, I'd suggest the Sannin, but that would just sound really dumb. Nobody would want to be snake face." the third argued. "Maybe we could go with the Kumo technique? Just letters?"

"Hah! Just call me A, then," the first clone exclaimed, turning to his neighbour clone "You can be B, and the genius over here can be C. What do you think? I don't think they would mind if we stole their names for a bit, right?"

The third clone scowled. "Hey, I came up with this system, and I'm _C?_ You get to be the Raikage, and I'm Blondie the medic? That's _so _unfair." He muttered.

"Well, it fits. You _are_ blond, dummy."

C rolled his eyes. "We all are!"

"I am not," Gaara added, staring at the others with that disconcerting unblinking expression.

"Thank you. We had not noticed," B said dryly. "So, I'm Octopops? I can deal with that. I am a stone-cold rapper with an attitude, fight me with me, and you'll be screwed!" He struck a pose. "Fool, ya fool!"

"Fool indeed. Let's not forget why we went to Gaara in the first place," the self-proclaimed A muttered. He turned to the Suna boy with a serious expression. "You need to know about Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki? Dawn?"

"They're a group of S-rank criminals – real badasses – that are out to hunt down the jinchūriki. They want to rip the tailed beasts out for their own purposes, and the extraction process..." He grimaced. "Let's say that it isn't pretty."

"They hunt for... mother?" Gaara frowned, putting a hand over his seal. "_Why_?"

"Power, of course. The usual world-conquering, probably," A retorted. "Listen, we'll leave that for the Boss, alright? We'll cross the perimeter of Konoha soon, and we must be careful with you along, since you're not a citizen. If you promise not to go on a crazy rampage, I'll get you a proper seal, so you can use your sand again. Since the new version of your seal would be about as strong as Boss's and the Ichibi's not quite as strong as the Kyūbi, it should work."

"Not as strong?"

"Yours has one tail, compared to nine," B summarized. "That's about it, really. Don't know how much it differs, but I don't think anyone disputes that Kyūbi's king of the monsters. _He _would certainly argue that."

"You talk a lot," Gaara said after a while. "Even to yourself."

"We're clones, of course we are," A responded. "Boss tells us to jump, we ask how high. Really it's our best technique - ages of training to get it all figured out. Of course, since we can use clones to speed it up, it can really be considered cheating."

"There is no such thing as cheating among ninja," Gaara said plainly.

"You learned the shinobi rules? I usually forget them the moment that people mention them."

"Shush." C raised a hand to his mouth. "We'll have to sneak in under cover. Gaara, do you know _Henge_? You should still be able to use your normal chakra, at least a little." He frowned. "Something innocuous would work, such as an animal."

"Oooh, you can be a raccoon dog! The rest of us can be foxes, and then we just traipse in along the back, by the training fields." B snickered. "Come on, it'll be fun!"

Gaara just stared.

* * *

Hiruzen wasn't shocked very often; his life had been too long and eventful for anything to really shock him anymore. Jiraiya wasn't much different, and the two had spent the past few days catching up on old times, as well as spending time on figuring out what to do about Sand's latest actions, not to mention Orochimaru.

Today, that had changed. As he was cleaning up the office and throwing away a thick stack of old paperwork, Hiruzen had been startled by his son who stormed right into the room. Asuma had laid out for him some disturbing events that happened at the Konoha hospital, events that seemed positively ridiculous. Even now he had trouble wrapping his head around the stated facts: Naruto, fresh Genin, had allegedly _killed _a ninja several ranks above his own, and in a most gruesome fashion.

Hiruzen had rushed over instantly, of course, but with Naruto unconscious and wounded, there was little chance he would be ready for questioning any time soon. He had assigned shinobi to take care of the clean-up and to research what had happened before he had, with a heavy heart, gone to find the boy's teacher. He should have realized that when Team 7 didn't show up at his office in the evening, despite Naruto's promise, something was off.

He had considered waiting at the hospital, but he knew that it would do no good. He had spent his time busying himself with other duties, knowing that this issue would keep him up; he hadn't slept a minute. It was with equal parts dread and relief that he received news that Naruto had awakened, if only briefly, shortly after the first rays of sunlight crept over the horizon. Hiruzen had straightened his robes, set his expression, and went on his way, hoping dearly that today was not the day he would have to put his predecessor's child in jail.

He vaulted lightly from roof to roof under the light of the early morning sun, ignoring the soft creaking of his bones, the sure signs that his best years were behind him now. Still, even with those uncomfortable reminders, he could soldier on for half a decade, and then he would pass on his hat to someone worthy. He had an eye on a few people already, just in case.

His mind returned to the matter at hand. Asuma had told him, in no uncertain terms, that Naruto had killed one of the medics at the hospital. Hiruzen wasn't sure what to think of that; it didn't seem to be in the boy's character, for one, and despite some disagreements over the boy's frankly irresponsible attitude towards training his more atypical skills, he seemed fine. Like all ninja, Hiruzen was certain the boy could kill if necessary, but he couldn't fathom a scenario in which a medic would be the victim. Certainly not on the spur of the moment.

Something was definitely off, here.

"I should never have gone along with this," he muttered to himself, thinking back to Naruto's visit, only a short time ago. The boy had seemed confident that he could control the Nine-Tails chakra. It was no surprise, really, considering his apparent gift for Fūinjutsu; there was a good mind hidden in that thick skull. Begrudgingly he had to admit that Naruto had the right to use the abilities granted to him as he saw fit, just like anyone else. Still – if the boy's experimentation had led to deaths, he would have to cut off that aspect of his training.

The Hokage's arrival at Naruto's room was met with no surprise. Moroni Ibiki, head of the Interrogation corps, stood along the wall with his arms crossed, rubbing his scarred chin as he looked down upon his unconscious subject. Naruto lay strapped onto a bed, asleep, his limbs tied down with strong ropes. Little tubes and wires ran along his arms and down from his nose, attached to a large beeping device that had a comfortable normal rhythm to it.

"How is his condition, now?"

Ibiki looked down to the paper on the desk beside him. "The subject displays intermittent consciousness, and when awake there is only limited communication possible. No speech, not yet. His throat is swollen and it'll have to calm down first." The man frowned as he glanced back over his paper. "There is _something. _Hokage-sama – there are clear signs of tissue damage that could take several days to heal. Near as I can tell, they're caused by some kind of corrosive chakra. The most likely explanation would be demonic in nature. The Nine-Tails."

Hiruzen gave a quick nod as he stepped over to the bed. "Did the creature manage to break free somehow? I could see Naruto hastening to the hospital if his seal went wild."

Ibiki shook his head emphatically. "No, the seal is intact. Jiraiya-sama visited last night, and he seemed convinced that the seal is as strong as ever, and that it has not been tampered with. It seems more likely that the Kyūbi's chakra was invoked willingly, using the seal itself as a kind of channel. It is quite a formidable proposition, that a Genin could command such power."

Hiruzen was not very surprised by that observation. "Naruto informed me that his seal was designed to let small doses of chakra merge with his own, and that he was able to use it. Channelling the creature's power was part of Minato's intention behind using this particular shape, though his exact motivations may never be known." He raised Naruto's shirt, frowning. "The seal remains visible, even now?"

"There's some low-level chakra usage," Ibiki noted. "It is not uncommon among trauma victims, generally. It can be considered a form of incontinence; with the size of the chakra channels that the subject possesses, it is hardly odd. It can be dangerous in weaker ninjas, but this boy would die of old age before he runs out."

Hiruzen dropped Naruto's shirt back over the Nine-Tails' seal. His skin felt cold and clammy as Hiruzen wiped the hair out of the boy's eyes worriedly. His hitai-ate lay beside him on the desk, alongside his equipment. "Tell me the details of what happened, please. I was present at the retrieval, but there are many things I doubtlessly missed in the confusion."

Ibiki looked meaningfully at the two Jōnin who stood silently in the corners of the room. They quickly left, closing the door behind them. "The earliest part in the chain of events that we could determine was that the subject, Naruto, left his teacher, Hatake Kakashi, and his fellow students. Afterwards, the first confirmed identification is at the hospital, where he came in with unknown health problems; he was seen clutching his arm. He was then brought back to one of the private rooms; the exact reasons for this are unknown, as the only medic who was aware of those facts is now deceased."

Hiruzen frowned. "Possibly an accident that required immediate healing that the Bijū could not fix? Go on."

"Approximately ten minutes later, a surge of chakra warned several staff members that something was off. Some had reported sensing an uncomfortable chakra in the air, but there were no Sensors present to identify it. Remnants were identified this morning as the Kyūbi's chakra." Ibiki frowned. "When Sarutobi Asuma tracked the chakra spike, he discovered Naruto and medic Ryosuke, specialist Jōnin. The former had exhausted his chakra and was sitting within some kind of seal, drawn on the floor in his own blood. The latter was gone, apparently crushed to death."

"_Crushed_?"

Ibiki grunted. "The cause of death doesn't seem to be related to the Kyūbi's chakra at all. There are superficial burns on what remains of his hands, but these are easily explained by being in the vicinity of the chakra while Naruto channelled it, rather than the result of a direct attack. Unfortunately the hands were pulverized beyond recognition, so I cannot be conclusive. There could have been other wounds of which the evidence has been obliterated." He tapped his file, grabbing an intricate drawing of Ryosuke's body. "From first observations, I conclude that something very powerful constricted around his body and squashed it in a single instant, effectively destroying every major organ except the brain. The medic's blood was found covering the entire room, though in an uneven pattern; some kind of implosion jutsu is implicated."

"Does Naruto even know a jutsu like that?" Hiruzen asked, glancing at the unconscious boy. "We may be looking at a set-up. What was the blood seal for?"

"A wound transference ritual," Ibiki said, grimacing. "It's used to kill people by proxy; the killer stabs themselves, which results in the same wound appearing on the target's body as well. Instructions for its use were found in a nearby scroll, alongside a great many others. It seems as if someone, presumably our Genin, ransacked the hospital's scrolls and followed the instructions for this particular ritual."

"Naruto would hardly murder someone, let alone like _that_," Hiruzen said, shaking his head. "Even if he did, it is obvious that his body is not crushed as Ryosuke's. That implies there was a third person in the room. Naruto, the medic, and whoever killed the latter. Yet, only two people were found."

"The scroll which lists the seal in question used belongs to the archives of an ancient cult," Ibiki observed. "It was _not_ supposed to be in this particular examination room. In fact, it had been listed as missing from the Jōnin library for several months." Ibiki paused. "It is certainly not to be in reach of Genin. We'll have to figure out who might have handled it before."

"How did Naruto know about it?" Hiruzen frowned. Naruto had been stealing scrolls - or borrowing them, as he would put it - was it conceivable that he got his hands on this one as well?

"I have no idea how he acquired it," Ibiki admitted, shaking his head. "Perhaps the boy can enlighten us, when he awakens." He turned to the boy's side and blinked. "It seems the Nine-Tails must be worrying too."

"Hmmm?"

Ibiki gestured to the window.

Outside, on the windowsill, sat a little fox, shivering in the cold wind.

* * *

"This is _definitely _not good," C muttered to himself as he made his way across town as a civilian, focusing on not running, even if he really wanted to. Disguising himself as a fox had paid off – he hadn't been recognized, at least – but it opened up a giant can of worms.

He had gone to the hospital out of curiosity, searching for the Boss, after home turned out to be empty and the bed not made. The Hokage had entered then, and he had been curious what was going on. He had found the Boss alright, but that was just the beginning of things. He's listened in, and found out some awfully disturbing things.

What exactly had happened while the battle with Hidan unfolded? Someone had _died _here in Konoha_. _The Kyūbi's chakra had been involved, too, and more. The good mood he had talked himself into had evaporated; it didn't matter what to do about Gaara, if the Boss was locked up in some deep dungeon for killing a fellow ninja. Even if it was true, and the clone rather doubted it, he would need to figure out a way to free the Boss to prevent the bad possible futures from becoming a reality.

C arrived near the wall, ducking under a tall tree into a secluded little garden that he remembered hiding in when he was much younger. "A, B, are you here?"

"Man, now the ABC thing just sound like toddlers making stuff up," B complained as he dropped out of the tree. His face was reminiscent of Sasuke's with Shikamaru's hair, and he scowled in much the same way as the latter. He looked ridiculous.

"Where's Gaara?" C asked confusedly as he glanced between him and A, who he had spotted a few feet away on the wall, lounging lazily against it with chakra control sticking him to it like a fly.

"I am here." A blond girl stepped out of the bushes next to C, and looked at him with a very dull stare, though the edge of insanity was still there, just as he remembered it. He was tempted to poke fun at the disguise, but he couldn't manage the hilarity right now.

"We need to have an emergency clone convention or something, since something is terribly off. Boss is _in the hospital_. Also, he is sort of under suspicion for murder."

"Crap, they found out about Mizuki?" B wondered. "We burned his ass!"

"No, not him."

"_Gatō? _Come on, that's just not plausible."

"Someone _else,_" C said, aggravated. "A medic at the hospital. Some innocent guy, I think."

"What the hell did Boss do now?" A whined as he joined the others. He hadn't bothered to disguise himself beyond turning his vest, pants and hair a dull brown. "Are we clones the only ones that can do something right around here? Sheesh."

"We are him, you know. Plus, it was a clone that practically handed Hidan a sample of our blood," B noted dryly. "I think that counts as screwing up royally."

"Boss is in the hospital with chakra burns all over," C snapped. "He's strapped to a bed and Ibiki's there. Two ANBU too. I think they're waiting for him to wake up before they question him about what went on. Focus, everyone."

"That does sound serious," A admitted.

"Near as I can tell, Boss went to a medic and got himself checked in for that freaky jutsu that Hidan used," C said. "He has most of the same wounds as Hidan inflicted on himself. He also used Kurama's chakra, and a lot of it. At least a full tail, I think, like that time in the Valley of the End, with Sasuke."

"Hidan's hits must have hurt a lot more than I'd thought," A muttered, shaking his head. "Kurama supercharged Boss's healing to keep up with the ritual. When Hidan went to town on himself, though, even he couldn't really keep up with the sudden wounds popping up."

"That's not the crazy part," C continued. "Ibiki mentioned that there was some kind of ritual involved, with a seal on the ground, written in blood." He looked up meaningfully at that. "He replicated Hidan's jutsu here, I would say. The medic died by being crushed. I think that's how Boss broke the ritual. He put it on someone else instead of himself."

"He just used a medic to save his own neck?" B asked in horror, glancing towards Gaara. "The sand burial got transferred here, and it got someone else instead of him."

"Damn, that's _cold_," A said. "I'm not sure if I could've done something like that – well, I suppose I would have." He grimaced. "I would at least have found a criminal to use, or something."

"Probably didn't have the time," B said darkly. "Look, I'm not defending it, but you know that if we're not around, a hell of a lot more people would die, right? I mean, Akatsuki would butcher everyone. He couldn't just get murdered and make things _worse._"

"So, what are you saying? Killing one innocent to _maybe _save others is justified?"A countered. "That's nihilistic territory, man. That's –" he glanced at Gaara, who was looking on with an expression bordering on boredom.

"I took the life of the woman I was supposed to call mother in the process of being born," Gaara said right then, staring impassively at the three clones. "I did not survive because of luck. My purpose was greater. My purpose is to survive, and to destroy those who would treasure me. It is purpose that drives us both. Clearly, we are alike. Your purpose was greater than the dead man's. That is why you survive."

"Man, you're creepy," A muttered. "I guess it was either us or an innocent, though." He looked away. "Gaara's _right_, this time, as crazy as it sounds."

"Having a reason doesn't excuse killing Konoha citizens, damn it," B cursed. "We screwed up, big time, and now Boss is paying the price. I'm guessing that the Boss found this ritual, and used it. That basically means that we either fess up to some serious crimes, and give up the chance that Boss gave us, or we spin it even further and get away free. Even if we have to lie our asses off to do it."

"Spin it?"

"The Hokage seems to lean towards blaming the Boss already," C said. "We can't explain the stuff that happened here at all, and it's not too flattering for the Boss anyway. We can't really explain that Naruto sent a horde of clones with blood samples into the wilderness and just happened to run into an S-rank criminal either."

"A-rank," Gaara noted neutrally.

"Whatever rank he was." C paced back and forth, concentrating. "If we want to implicate Akatsuki for what happened here, we could probably pull that off. I mean, the Boss isn't here to contradict, and all they have beyond his word is a body and some sketchy rituals. We know that they aren't going to pull anything out of Boss's mind with Kurama in there, so perhaps we could shift the blame."

"You want to put it on the medic," B observed suddenly. "That's your plan, isn't it? To place the entire weight of things on the dead medic. That's awfully cold, really. If Boss killed him, it'd be rather nasty to twist that around and have that man's name scratched from the memorial stone before it's even there."

"Well, we don't have to ruin his reputation here," C said, frowning. "We all know that Akatsuki has those crazy fake body jutsu, right? Where they take over other people's bodies and control them by remote? It's been less than half a day since this all happened, so odds are that the medic's body is still due for in-depth research. If we slip in something to connect the body to Akatsuki, Jiraiya will recognize it. Maybe mess with the residual chakra to suggest that the body was being controlled."

"If we had a white Zetsu lying around, we could have used that," B muttered. "It's not a terrible idea, really."

C shrugged. "If we blame this medic guy for attacking the Boss, then we need to explain what happened, exactly. We could probably argue that the Kyūbi chakra was due to Hidan's ritual, even if we don't mention Hidan. We could argue that the medic used the jutsu on Naruto and was preparing to kill him. That only leaves the crushed state of the body." A met Gaara's eyes. "The results wouldn't be quite the same without your sand in the nooks and crannies."

"You want to put _Gaara_ in this conspiracy?" B inquired incredulously. "Are you nuts?"

"We already told the old man that we can sense other jinchūriki," C noted quickly, glancing at the Suna boy meaningfully. "It's close enough to true, anyway. If we argue that the Ichibi homed in on Boss's chakra in a similar way and Gaara killed the attacker, that would make sense. Jinchūriki look after one another, that sort of thing. He's a Sand shinobi, though, so of course he would have hightailed it out before the ANBU and such arrive. The Hokage wouldn't throw him in prison for defending me."

"So, what, Gaara teleported all the way from Suna?" B said dryly.

"No. He was here to do exactly what _we _plan on doing," A said suddenly, suddenly smiling brightly. "Pervy Sage told the Hokage what we put in that letter to him, and we mentioned an emissary's arrival in passing, so we had a way out if anything got too wild. We didn't specify _when,_ but if anything would accelerate such a trip, it would be something like this. He was heading here, and we knock out two birds with one stone. The Kazekage will know that Gaara's in Konoha,_ and _we can pass off his arrival without too much fanfare."

The Suna jinchūriki looked between the excited clones with an unreadable expression before he simply slid to the ground against the wall.

"This could work!" C agreed, glancing back at him. "You could be our emissary from the Sand, here to warn the Hokage about Akatsuki who have tried to attack him. We clones could disguise ourselves as escorts from Suna, even."

Gaara frowned. "What did you tell him? What did you tell father?"

A blanched. "Oh, right. Well, Boss actually sort of told you the truth about that." He rubbed the back of his head. "We sort of agreed that you would spend a year in Konoha, as a sort of insurance, shall we say, or a peace offering to keep the alliance going even after the mistake the Kazekage almost made in going along with Orochimaru."

"And you believe he would not attack a place where I reside?" Gaara inquired suddenly, his eyes sharp. "Father has attempted to rob me of my existence before."

"He might dare to try, but he'd be stupid," A responded immediately. "Two jinchūriki in one town, _and _one of the strongest standing forces, period? He would need allies, lots of allies. He doesn't know about _me, _really, but he knows that you can pull off your one-tail transformation and wreck stuff. That should give him pause."

The three clones looked at Gaara pleadingly, and the boy sighed, glancing down at his seal which was still covered by a paper one. "You seem to think that your village would tolerate my presence. If anyone attacks me, I _will_ kill them."

"Yes, yes, that's totally in character," B muttered. "A, go bug the body of that medic. After all the times we shared a body with Kurama, I think being controlled by an outside force shouldn't be a hard thing to replicate. I'll go with Gaara and play the Suna representative that Gaara bailed on."

"What about me?" C inquired.

"You get to tell Boss about the plan," B said with a smile. "He'll have to play his part. We'll get him out of this mess, and then we can figure out the rest afterwards."

C nodded sharply. "Don't screw up, anyone." He vanished in a puff of smoke.

* * *

"I don't understand, Hokage-sama." Kakashi shook his head. "Last night, he seemed adamant that he would get a C-rank for the team. And that's right after he awakened Sasuke's Sharingan, effectively for no reward. We even spoke a little, and he seemed fine."

"Then, only an hour or two later, this happened." Hiruzen said, staring at the bed. "He's been awake a few times, but the only thing I've heard is some mumblings. Probably the same that Asuma relayed – someone saved his life, apparently."

"Who?"

"The third person, I suspect." He narrowed his eyes as he considered the unconscious youth before him. "I am not one to think the worst of people, Kakashi. There are only a few possibilities here Naruto inexplicably killing a Medical-Nin in a fit of Kyūbi-filled rage seems the obvious explanation, but I severely doubt that's what happened. If it was just the fox, why was there a blood seal present at all?"

"You think someone attacked Naruto? In the hospital?" Kakashi wondered. "Why?"

"It _is _a distinct possibility," the Hokage said. "The seals to ensure privacy were activated – nobody heard anything, they only sensed the chakra. If someone attempted to murder Naruto, they chose an opportune location. Ryosuke-san may have simply been unlucky, caught between the killer and his would-be victim. As for why – there are many reasons that come to mind."

"The Fox." Hiruzen and Kakashi turned as one to the bed, where Naruto's eyes fluttered open, bright blue as ever. He grimaced briefly, a look of guilt or pain flashing over his face, before he collected himself. "He was after... the jinchūriki."

"_He?_" Hiruzen asked immediately, quickly stepping to the bed. "Explain."

"The medic," Naruto said, wincing. "The ritual – it was supposed to link me with someone else. Someone far away." He slowly raised his hand, but the wires with which it was strapped down prevented it. "_Akatsuki._"

"Kakashi – get Jiraiya." Hiruzen didn't pull his eyes away from the boy as the Jōnin left, sliding the door back closed as he did so. "Naruto, what happened? Tell me _everything._"

"I was hit with a shuriken, when I was out training, so I came here, since I was bleeding all over-" He paused. "Old man, why am I tied down?"

"Please continue," Hiruzen said softly, putting his hand on the boy's arm. "When we figure out what happened, I'll let you out."

Naruto groaned and wriggled back and forth in his bonds, but reluctantly continued at last. "I got here, you know, figured I could find a medic that could at least talk to me. This one guy seemed nice, he asked me to come with. It was busy in the halls so I figured it was fine."

"Mr. Ryosuke," Hiruzen said easily. "We have recovered his remains."

Naruto flinched. "He – he tended to my wound for a bit, asked me some stuff." He turned away, pressing his eyes closed. "He just – attacked me. One second he was fine, and the next I couldn't move, and he was cutting at me with something sharp. I screamed but nobody could hear."

Hiruzen sighed. "The medic attacked you? Not someone else?"

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know what but – it was like he was someone else. The fox got really angry, and his chakra came out of the seal. I mean, I thought that maybe it would work, right? It burns. So when he put me on that seal on the ground, I pushed everything I could into it. All my chakra."

"He was like someone else, you said?" Hiruzen glanced at the door. "How do you mean?"

"It was – like he couldn't control his body." Naruto shivered. "Can I – have a sip of water, please?"

"Of course." Hiruzen quickly filled a cup with a swift combination of hand seals; a very helpful skill in a pinch. "Naruto – we found Mr. Ryosuke when he was already dead. Can you give me _any_ details on what he said? You mentioned Akatsuki."

"That's what he said," Naruto agreed. "Akatsuki – the dawn something. He went on about the Tailed Beasts, about the Kyūbi. Said he wanted to extract it from me. I think the seal – it was supposed to keep it locked up temporarily, or something like that, even when I was _dead!_"

Hiruzen's thoughts raced as he considered this new information. If stealing the Tailed Beasts was indeed the motive here, then the group that Jiraiya had mentioned was already active, years before anyone suspected. If they were locking tailed beasts into objects – even dead bodies – that couldn't possibly be for the long term. The village had to be ready to face this threat, and a lot earlier than he had expected.

Still – even assuming that the medic had been the attacker, a scenario he had not really considered, that left open another mystery.

"Who was the third person in that room, Naruto?"

Naruto looked up warily. "The third person, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen frowned. "You never call me that, Naruto. Not unless you think you've done something you shouldn't. Out with it."

The long silence that followed was interrupted when Kakashi returned, the Toad Sage right behind him. The man immediately walked to Naruto's side, his expression grave.

"Akatsuki is active," Hiruzen said easily. "One tried to take the Kyūbi from right under our noses. I suspect we will find clues on the body. I'd suggest looking for possible mind-control jutsu."

"He mentioned someone called – Kisame, I think." Naruto said with a frown.

"Hoshigaki Kisame," Jiraiya observed glumly. "Confirmed member of Akatsuki. That's not something that the common people would know. I think we're looking at the genuine article here." He shook his head. "Kid, what the hell did you do to that medic?"

"He came after me!" Naruto exclaimed. "What are you blaming _me _for?"

"I saw the body, kid. That guy doesn't have anything left but pulverized bones and torn organs. You really went to town on him." He pulled a face. "I'd be impressed if I wasn't so disgusted."

"You didn't do that," Hiruzen observed. "Did you?"

Naruto was silent for a long time. "Will – will you promise not to hurt him?"

"_Him?"_

"He _saved my life_," Naruto said, eyes haunted. "Please?"

That was what Asuma had told him Naruto had said repeatedly, right before collapsing: the boy had repeatedly referenced to someone saving his life. Hiruzen leaned closer. "Why would we want to hurt this person, Naruto?"

Naruto fidgeted. "Because he's not from Konoha. He's from Suna. He wasn't supposed to be in the village at all." He looked uneasily at the men around his bed. "You won't hurt him just for saving me, right? I mean, it's sort of against the rules, but that's not too terrible, right?"

Hiruzen glanced at Jiraiya with a frown. "We are allies with Suna, at preset. I will hear this person out, at least."

Naruto closed his eyes. "It was Gaara."

"The Kazekage's kid?" Jiraiya asked immediately, gaping. "You mean that guy is _here? _The stories about that one are all over the place - supposed to be a very violent boy who avoids the village proper..."

"That's sort of true," Naruto said begrudgingly. "He saved me - he said he was already near the village, and he heard me." He glanced up, looking directly at the Toad Sage. "He sensed me, knew I was in trouble. The Kyūbi was crying out and the Ichibi answered, is what I understand of it."

"He's a jinchūriki," Hiruzen said in realization. His eyes lit up in understanding. "You told me that you could sense the others, but it works in reverse, too? Where is he, now?"

"Outside the walls, away from the village," Naruto said, glancing away. "He knew he wasn't supposed to be in here, so he left right after to come back properly. _Please_ don't hurt him."

Jiraiya frowned. "Sensei, this reminds me of _that _letter."

Hiruzen recalled the message that the Kazekage had sent to Jiraiya clearly. His fellow Kage had clearly informed him of possible traitors within the Leaf, which seemed even more plausible after these events. The letter also included a promise to send someone who was undeniably a true member of Suna to show their good faith – and who else would fit but their jinchūriki? Even if he was violent or unhinged, he was still a powerful asset of the Sand that they were willingly sending over. This was a _lot _quicker than he's expected the Kazekage to act.

"We'll need to weed out any Akatsuki plants as soon as possible, to prevent something lik this from happening again," he said at last. "If Ryosuke was an ally of these terrorists, or controlled by them, there are probably more that we haven't found yet." He turned away. "Naruto, when you have recovered, you will bring me this _Gaara. _Though it seems he might have saved your life, he remains a trespasser on our ground, and I will want a full explanation._"_

Naruto gave a subdued nod.

"I will go visit the morgue. Ryosuke's autopsy has just become high priority." Hiruzen's expression softened as he looked back at the bed. "Rest up, and we'll fix this. I will leave you someone to speak to, if you need to." He glanced meaningfully at Kakashi. "When this has all been cleared up, you'll be free to go."

"You bet, old man," Naruto said, a weak smile appearing. "I still want that C-rank."

* * *

Naruto shuddered as the Hokage left, leaving only Jiraiya and Kakashi.

That had gone both better and worse than he had hoped. When he had woken up to a rush of strange memories, he had been confused on where they had come from. He had not realized that any of his clones still survived after all that had happened, and it turned out they had been very busy.

The memories were odd, to say the least. Aside from Gaara behaving rather calmly and collected for the serial killing monster that he remembered, there were the clones' assumptions that bothered him. They seemed to believe that he had sacrificed Ryosuke, a Konoha shinobi, to save his own life. That instead of the medic actively using a ritual to transfer the curse onto himself, he had actively used it on said medic to stick around.

It was disturbing; he had barely thought about such a scenario, but his clones were perfectly willing to assume that he would sink that low, and quickly. The clones were him, so did he really think so poorly of himself? Did he really believe that he was capable of sacrificing people just to survive? He couldn't shake the feeling that the assumption wasn't such a bad one.

Orochimaru was still out there, as were most of the members of Akatsuki, and more enemies besides those. If he died here in the hospital, things would never be better than he remembered, only worse. There would be nobody to stop most of the events that had yet to happen. But would he have forced someone to finish the ritual used on him, even if he knew what it entailed?

Chillingly, he realized he wasn't sure about that. He knew he had gotten colder over time, more willing to kill for the job, but to murder your own village's people went beyond that. How many lives was it worth to extend his own life for some greater good that he wasn't sure would pan out? Could he afford to die so easily, to save one person, when he knew that his presence could save far more in the long run? He wasn't sure what to think, and that was a scary concept to deal with.

The assumption of his guilt had led right into the clone's plans, and as such he was forced to act along with it, lest he ruin something. He had to play Ryosuke off as the aggressor, and it pained him to do so. Talking his way around the facts to the Hokage's face, not to mention Kakashi's, felt worse than before. Still, he couldn't afford to falter now.

Now, his clones would take care of the rest. One was messing with Ryosuke's body, linking it to Akatsuki, and the other was placed outside the walls, putting on another show. Gaara would be found soon enough after the Hokage contacted his ANBU, and the clone, disguised as a Suna Jōnin, would take off after 'delivering' him to the gates. It would make sense with Gaara's reputation that nobody would want to be too close to him.

Gaara was acting in a way that made little sense, but if he was playing along with this thing, he could wait to figure that out until he was in the clear. Yes, his seal was blocked most of the time, which shut up Shukaku, but that couldn't have such a large effect in such a short time, could it? Perhaps he was simply biding his time until the real him was in range, to get revenge? It seemed a little unreasonable, even for Gaara.

The seal he was on, Naruto realized, was almost like a drug. With it, Gaara could think clearly, and the boy had a powerful mind, given his ability to lead a village at a young age. He had the potential to be Kazekage, and now that the Ichibi's loudness was shoved to the side, that potential could shine through. Perhaps he had figured that out; perhaps Gaara was really searching for a way to have both his sand and a clear head - a permanent seal.

"You look like you're in pain," Kakashi said after a while, his one eye focusing on the nasty-looking gashes on Naruto's arms and legs. "Do these still hurt?"

"Just thinking too hard," Naruto joked. "I'll be up by morning. Kyūbi healing, you know. He doesn't like it when his packaging gets damaged."

Jiraiya guffawed. "Kid, you should take it easy. Being attacked within the village is a big deal. I think there will be a lot more ANBU around for a while, especially when you and your team are training. I'd take the time to rest up, before we get into the mess of this Gaara's arrival."

"You know, now Team 7's on standby again, and just when some C-ranks were trickling in." Kakashi pouted. "I don't think we'll see any soon, if this keeps up."

"That's nonsense," Naruto blurted. "I was caught alone, that's why they got me. If you'd been there, I'd be fine! The same is true for Pervy Sage, isn't it?" He shook his head. "We should do _more _missions, not _fewer._ If we're out of the village, nobody can just plan for our daily schedule, right?"

"Brat's got a point," Jiraiya muttered. "I'd still say that you should put your whole wall full of seals to keep unwanted bastards out of your home, if you want to sleep easy again. Honestly, if you can get attacked in the hospital, you could be attacked _anywhere._ I'll help you prepare those."

"I will consider what to say to Sasuke and Sakura," Kakashi said. "You should know that they both came to me to ask what was going on. They wanted to know if you were alright when they heard you were in the hospital, too."

"Sasuke probably hopes I broke all my bones and wants to gloat over it, and Sakura goes wherever the bastard goes," Naruto responded lightly, smirking. "Just tell those two not to worry, right? I'm still kicking."

Kakashi smiled. "I'll go find them." He flicked his hitai-ate and winked as he slipped out of the door.

As they were left alone, Naruto looked uneasily at his last visitor. Jiraiya gazed down on Naruto with a serious expression. "I think it's about time we discuss what you know about the other hosts, and about _Akatsuki_, wouldn't you agree?"

* * *

**Author's Note: **I think the fact that he's got to confide in -someone- is getting pretty clear at this point after the near-disaster that happened. That said, next chapter deals with Gaara's side of things, has Danzo, and Team 7.

Cheers. :)


	13. Critical Mass

**Chapter 13 - Critical Mass**

Hiruzen sat at his desk, pouring over his scrolls with a concerned frown. The events of the previous day wouldn't let him go, even when he knew that the Medical Ninja were handling the situation admirably, and documenting everything. Something was very _off_ about all this.

Before him lay the scroll retrieved from the late Ryosuke's side. Filled with highly dangerous and forbidden seals from foreign countries. It had been locked away, but somehow it had ended up in the hospital. He wanted to shift the blame to Akatsuki, to foreign invaders, but he acknowledged to himself that it was largely because he didn't want to think badly of Naruto. Taking scrolls from the tower was one thing, but using lethal seals from those scrolls went into a whole new territory.

The seal. That was the most puzzling element in all of this, aside from certain parts of the village's defensive grid that clearly needed a check-up. The seal was drawn in blood, Naruto's blood, yet Naruto's fingers were only spattered with a few drops at the time he was found. If he'd been the one to make the seal, how had he done it without using his fingers? The medic Ryosuke might have done it, but with the chakra burns on what remained of the man's hands, there was probably no way to discern that.

Naruto had a ready answer for what happened. Perhaps _too_ ready. Yes, he had always been one to blurt everything out, to barge into conversations without a thought. Yet, Hiruzen knew that was an act. He had observed personally that the boy could be cunning, smart; you didn't lose that spontaneously. No, the boy wasn't just mentioning everything he heard. He was choosing every word very carefully, calculating ahead of time what the reaction might be. He came across as a Jōnin, sometimes, seasoned by years in the field. Hiruzen strongly suspected that Naruto was far more like that, inside, than the image he had long maintained.

The way the boy mentioned Gaara, the Suna jinchūriki, and wove Akatsuki into the conversation, had been masterful; Kakashi probably hadn't even noticed how _convenient_ that all was. Jiraiya did, of course, but he would doubtlessly be more interested in figuring out just what that group was up to than why Naruto had known about them. Hiruzen, however, had no such concerns at the moment. Naruto was clever, and he was taking advantage of people underestimating him, while it lasted. In a way, very much like his father had been; the fact that he wasn't of any particularly notable clan had given Minato a great advantage on the battlefield, where people wouldn't think to consider him a threat until their throat had already been slit. That was before he had gained his reputation, of course.

More chillingly, though, Hiruzen was reminded of someone else, someone who also planned out every word, who manipulated every conversation to his end. His old student, Orochimaru. Quick with his tongue, that boy had kept him guessing for _years_. He could use any situation to his advantage. Hiruzen loathed to make the comparison, but he couldn't deny his instincts. Naruto was not a snake, perhaps, not quite that conniving; he could be a fox, though. It was no secret anymore that the boy kept his knowledge and skill obfuscated at all times, that he knew considerably more than he had ever admitted to in his youth, and was quite aware of his strengths. He trained in the use of the demon's chakra without anyone knowing about it, until now; only the stricter time schedule of a shinobi had unveiled his activities. Naruto was dangerous, that was for sure. That didn't make him a traitor.

Keeping secrets and hiding skills, though, where traits that any shinobi might have; many of the best did. That wasn't what concerned him. No, what worried him was that he didn't know if the carefree and even friendly demeanor that Naruto showed with his team, was actually genuine. It could be just another act, a disguise used to get to his teammates. Could Naruto be manipulating Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, just as Orochimaru had done to his two Sannin colleagues?

"I figured you were the Jiraiya of this generation," he muttered as he picked up a picture of his old Genin team. Jiraiya was smiling broadly; there was no doubt where the man's laugh lines in present day had come from. Tsunade looked mildly annoyed at her goofy teammate, her arms crossed. Besides her, though, enigmatically staring at the camera, was Orochimaru, his serpentine eyes sharp as ever. "ANBU," he called, and in an instant a masked figure appeared in the room.

"Hokage-sama?"

"I need an audience with Danzō-san," Hiruzen said in a measured tone. "I require his assistance."

"I will go get him at once, Hokage-sama," the ANBU said and turned to leave, but Hiruzen raised his hand, gesturing to wait.

"What is your name? I recognize all my ANBU, but you are new." He raised an eyebrow. "Weasel, is it? Are you not concerned with the connotations of that particular mask?"

"I..." the ANBU hesitated. "I will retrieve Danzō-sama at once." He body-flickered away in an instant then, and Hiruzen frowned momentarily.

"Danzō-sama, is it?" he turned with a small sigh, leaving his speculations for another time. He looked out over the village through his window, seeing the roof of Naruto's home in the distance, almost out of sight. "I hope you'll forgive me for this breach of trust, but it's unavoidable at this point."

* * *

"Finally, I can get out of this bed!" Naruto exclaimed, as Kakashi walked in. "Sleeping like this is _annoying. _I can't even turn around, so now my butt's asleep-" he hesitated. "Ah, sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I don't like hospitals much, y'know."

"I gathered as much," Kakashi said lightly as he released the first of the wires holding Naruto down. In honesty, he could have overpowered them, Naruto was sure. Even if his chakra was severely limited by the seal formula on the larger ropes, he had more than anyone really knew how to use. Channelling Kurama's chakra would be an easy way to get through them too. Of course, either scenario would end up with him being chased by twenty ANBU, which was a _bad_ idea right now. Best to go with the flow.

As the last of the wires and ropes fell away, Naruto jumped out of the bed and almost collapsed to the ground as his legs wobbled. Man, his muscles were seriously inflamed from the use of his tenant's chakra; his body wasn't used to it this time, and he needed time to adapt. In about three years, he figured, he would be back to his old level, with his own system sufficiently adapted to be able to use Kurama's chakra shroud. Perhaps sooner, if he got some serious training in. That depended on Kurama, though.

"You really shouldn't get into these situations," Kakashi muttered as he shook his head. "I've been in a few hairy situations when I was your age, but I never got close to being murdered in the Konoha hospital. That's just bad luck!"

Naruto frowned. "I..." He looked away. "I don't suppose you would let me see him? The medic?"

"His body is downstairs," Kakashi said immediately, frowning. "Ibiki's working on it, trying to figure out the details. Thankfully, the brain's intact. Makes it easier."

Naruto shuddered as he remembered that moment he had seen Ryosuke, after everything was over. Crushed, yes, but he didn't seem to be in pain, if his expression was anything to go by. Dead in an instant, probably painless. That really didn't make things better. "Please, I just want to..."

Kakashi sighed. "If Ibiki allows it. I suppose I can understand the desire to make sure that your assailant is gone." He glanced away. "Come."

The two made their way through the halls of the hospital at a snail's pace; there were few people around, thankfully, and Kakashi offered his arm as support on the long way down; six floors, at least, though Naruto sort of lost count along the way.

"Did you mean it, yesterday?" Naruto wondered. "About Sasuke and Sakura...?"

Kakashi smiled. Naruto had gotten remarkably good at telling facial expressions from just an eye by watching his sensei in the future. "Yes, I did. They're worried, but I asked them not to disturb you while you were here, and the hospital's closed anyway. I figured that you wouldn't want them to see you tied down. Besides, Sasuke did the same thing, so he probably considers it payback. Of course, _someone _went and visited Sasuke anyway, outside visiting hours..."

"Hey, I totally had a good reason for that," Naruto countered. "He was being an idiot, you know. Had to smack some sense into him. Besides, he's probably too busy with his fancy eyes to worry about me."

"I wouldn't say that," Kakashi noted. "I've seen him try it out, but whenever he mentions it, you come up. I think he's both thankful and scared of you at this point. Which basically means he's really itching to have a fight."

"Figures," Naruto said with a snort. He grimaced. "Do you think I should tell him? Tell _them_, I mean?"

"Hmmm?"

"About Kyūbi."

"Only you can decide who to tell," Kakashi answered.

"Sasuke must suspect something, after that whole Sharingan thing. He might not know what I called on there, but he knows it's not normal. It'll be a matter of time before he connects the physical manifestations with the beast. He's intelligent, _sometimes_."

"So charitable of you," Kakashi deadpanned.

"Sakura probably doesn't know a thing; she has trouble enough realizing I'm not the total knob I was in the academy. Imagining me as one of the most dangerous people in the whole village is way too large a step."

"Are you that dangerous, you reckon?"

Naruto stared. "I'm a _jinchuriki,_ sensei. You know that shinobi are considered human weapons, right? Dial that to eleven for us hosts of tailed beasts. Beyond everything else, I am the closest thing the ninja world has to a weapon of mass destruction."

Kakashi shrugged. "I suppose that's true. But all trained shinobi are capable of doing a lot of damage." Kakashi tapped his hitai-ate. "This eye of mine can be terrifyingly powerful, and I've used it with my Ninjutsu to kill hundreds. I'd call that mass destruction. I'm dangerous too. Nobody seems too scared of me. Well, not in this village, anyway."

"That's because nobody takes you seriously when you read porn all the time," Naruto countered, glaring. He sighed as he looked away. "I suppose you're right, though. Still, telling Sasuke and Sakura something like that, it scares me. Before..." He shook his head. "Maybe when we know each other better."

Kakashi smiled and nodded, then glanced down the hall at the level they had just arrived at. The walls were sterile white and there were stretchers set up everywhere. "We're here. Mind your step, blood might make it slippery."

The morgue, as expected of a ninja village's repository of the dead, was large, and protected by several ANBU. They gave Naruto barely a glance before they let him follow Kakashi in; more ANBU were stationed there. The walls were covered with some kind of clear material, and several bodies were laid out on slabs in their own recesses. As they neared the hindmost part, high priority, even more guards waved them on.

"Isn't this a bit excessive?" Naruto wondered. "More than a dozen people to guard corpses?"

"They're dead ninja," Kakashi said easily. "The body of a ninja is usually destroyed after they die, because a lot of information can be gained from the remains. This morning, a lot more ANBU were called in because of what happened in this hospital, so it's even more protected at this point. Here's where Konoha Medical-Nin study enemy shinobi, you know."

Naruto knew, but he hadn't been to a place like this until Konoha was rebuilt after Nagato's attack. He had never been very comfortable with going here; he constantly had the feeling that some ghost was going to come floating around the corner and spook him. He shivered just thinking about it.

"So, like Iwa shinobi?"

"Lately," Kakashi agreed. He glanced at the far end of the room. "Ibiki, I brought a guest."

"A _guest,_" the tall man replied, staring at Naruto with an intense gaze. "You have left me with quite a mess, boy. Try not to repeat that, or you'll end up down here too."

"I'll try to avoid it," Naruto said with a nervous smile that quickly vanished. "Could I...?"

"I'm done with him, you can do what you want," Ibiki responded. "I usually work on live ones, it's more interesting. Still, this one had a few things to tell me." He raised a little piece of flesh, and Naruto almost gagged. "This here is one of his fingers. Right index. It's covered in blood. Your blood."

Naruto nodded hesitantly.

"That confirms that this subject was the one to draw the seal on the ground. Consistent." He moved on and raised another bit of Ryosuke. "This tissue's from his hands as well. There's slight chakra burn from the Kyūbi's emanations. Consistent."

"You don't have to gross him out, you know," Kakashi noted.

Ibiki reached into a bucket. What he retrieved made eve Kakashi wince. An entire brain. "I've had experts try and retrieve what they could, but the way he was killed burst several arteries, which destroyed much of what we had to work with. However..." He weighed it on his hand, narrowing his eyes. "There were traces of an unusual compound, one administered within the same day. Inconsistent."

"What compound?" Kakashi wondered. "I didn't hear anything about that. "

"Latest findings, only showed up in our tests this morning. It was subtle. Problem is, we're having trouble figuring out what it is, exactly. It's similar, however, to certain poisons used by Iwa shinobi in the third war." He paused. "If I'm right, it's meant to make the subject pliant and suggestible, probably tired and uncaring. Konoha has used versions of its before. The Yamanaka family in particular grows plants whose extract can be converted into this substance. Their techniques of mind-domination work far better using it."

"Mind control," Kakashi said. "Are you certain about that?"

"It seems most likely," Ibiki said. He glanced at Naruto then. "Can you recall anything that the subject might have said about this? We may be dealing with infiltration of a different kind."

"Not really," Naruto responded. "It was a bit of a blur."

The man hummed under his breath. "So, this man said that he was from this _Akatsuki_ and mentioned Hoshigaki Kisame's name, according to the report?" Ibiki wondered. "The person controlling the subject must have been loose-lipped, or very confident, to name such things." He glanced at Kakashi. "We cannot afford to assume the former. If this one was sure enough of his group's plans that a leak like that would be insignificant, then we must conclude he is not alone."

"We already have our eyes on one person. He does some work at the hospital as well, which doesn't make him look any better." Kakashi looked down at Naruto and frowned. "Come to think of it, the lead on that came from you as well, didn't it?"

Kabuto. "Those people out in the woods," Naruto said in realization, trying to play it off like he'd forgotten it. Honestly, he really hadn't thought about _that_ in the confusion. Man, he was building up too many lies on lies, it was getting hard to keep track. "You mean the grey-haired man I saw?"

"I suppose with all your sleuthing, it's no wonder you run across this kind of thing," Kakashi said, but his look lingered a little longer than Naruto was comfortable with. A shiver ran down his back before the man turned away, and the feeling didn't go away.

"If this was mind-control, what will happen to..." Naruto said to get his mind off it, gesturing to the corpse laid out on the table. It actually looked less gruesome than he remembered, with most of the blood gone. "Ryosuke-san was being manipulated, right? Shouldn't he get a name on some monument?"

"Perhaps," Kakashi agreed. "Still, we don't know his involvement here. He could be completely innocent, but his role in recent events might raise questions among shinobi. We can't really come out and claim he was being possessed, after all. That would just be spilling secrets."

Naruto grimaced. If the village wasn't going to put him on a monument for what he had done, Naruto would. And then, when Akatsuki finally became common knowledge, he would have the Third put it on there, no matter what. Even if he had to tell exactly what happened, how he was ultimately responsible, he would see it done.

Before he could rethink it, Naruto stepped to the table. Ryosuke's eyes were open, the small smile still frozen on his face. He reached out and closed the man's eyelids, thinking of the many times he had done this to people he knew, back in his own time. "I will make him proud. I promise you," he murmured. And he would. He couldn't deny a man's last words.

He turned away and walked out without another word. He had to think.

* * *

Gaara walked into the Hokage's tower with some uncertainty. The last few days had been strange, absurd even. After being kidnapped from his own village and locked up in an underground dungeon with his chakra locked away, he had expected to die. It was hardly a strange assumption to make, and he had been trying to figure out a way to get out, to escape.

For all the days he was there, though, the clones that kept him company had tried to interact, had tried to tell him things that he honestly didn't understand. He could understand someone capturing, torturing him even. He couldn't understand this fellow host, this Naruto. One moment he seemed carefree and happy, and his clones were no different. He was the antithesis of Gaara at those times.

But, there were other moments, Gaara had noticed. The clones didn't brood in his presence much, but they did do it, and the understanding looks they showed when they glanced at him were similarly odd. Like someone was looking at him that understood everything, that knew exactly what kind of life he had lived and perhaps had even experienced it himself. Buried under all that cheer, was someone not much different from himself.

His urge to rip the clones apart and escape had waned over the days. He felt calm. Calmer than he had ever felt, as if the screaming voice that was always there had taken his hate with it as well. The silence was deafening, terrifying at first. He had spent much of the first day trying not to panic, trying not to give his captors the satisfaction of knowing they had gotten to him so effectively. Even with the clones' promise that he was better off, he rebelled against the silence, focusing all his anger to fill that void.

Then, slowly, it had changed. One day, perhaps four days after his captivity, he had almost dozed off. He'd near enough fallen asleep, while tied up. He had been watching one of the clones disastrously losing to another clone at a game of shōgi, while a third was quietly reading to himself. An hour had passed without a single word, and the atmosphere in the room had been remarkably like Gaara remembered from his youth, from sitting at the fireplace in the middle of the night, when the desert could cool off enormously. Sitting together with Kankurō and Temari, smiling and joking with each other. Before he knew, his eyes had closed, as if on their own. The fright when he realized that had jolted him back awake, but it stuck with him.

He couldn't quite describe it, but he felt _different_. When he removed the seal he had been given, he could feel everything was still there. The power, the unearthly screams within his head, the loneliness. The sudden shock of it hurt, hurt like nothing he had ever known. It wasn't a physical pain; he hadn't been hurt in years and years, but he remembered that differently. It was another kind of pain, as if his own mind was crying out in protest. Against that agony, he would gladly trade his shield of protection. He would rather suffer a physical wound than to submit himself to that again.

Even as he repeated his long-held opinions to the blond clones, ignoring their attempts at conversation as much as possible, he wondered how true they were, now. Was his mind his own, now? The real Naruto had told him about the tailed beast within him, and he had known intellectually that it was there, but he could feel the difference, now. Was he the same person with or without it? Was this calm, this lack of hate, really him all along?

His father had done this to him. Gaara still felt a surge of anger there, but it was strangely muted. Like he had been hating the man for so long, that it didn't feel necessary anymore. His hand strayed to his seal, to the little paper covering it. Did that little thing really affect him so much?

He was in another village; he had never been to one before, he realized. He was even meeting with another Kage, and he was calm. It was surreal. He passed many shinobi, even ones that glared at him suspiciously, and he barely felt the urge to hurt them at all, nor the intense need to prove his own existence. For the moment, it seemed enough to just exist.

"Gaara-san," a tall man with a reddish coat and long white hair said, bowing slightly as he approached. The ANBU that had been following him vanished. "I am Jiraiya, one of the Sannin of Konoha."

"...It is an honour," Gaara tried. He had never considered how he would talk to foreign officials before, but he'd heard enough people meetinng with is father when he was little to infer some things. Luckily, it seemed he had done well, as the man smiled.

"Nice to meet you. Well, follow me!" He walked in the door with a light step, and Gaara quickly walked after him. He felt odd without having his gourd strapped to his back; he had no sand on him at all. It was uncomfortable, but not unbearable, and that too was a new sensation. Jiraiya looked back curiously as Gaara ran a hand over his own shoulder with a frown. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing of consequence," Gaara muttered, shaking his head.

"I can see why you weren't picked up by our border guards," Jiraiya muttered. "Your chakra signature's nearly undetectable. That's pretty impressive, actually." He raised an eyebrow. "I would have expected a jinchūriki to have _more _chakra_,_ like Naruto..."

Gaara knew his chakra reserves were tiny right now, or at the very least hard to reach. Most of it was tied up, it seemed, by the seal holding back the tailed beast, alongside the one placed on top. It had to be quite remarkable, to have such remarkable effectiveness on a jinchūriki.

"Well, the Hokage is waiting," Jiraiya said after a moment. "The blond idiot's already there."

"He is?" Gaara wondered what he would say to the real one. Talking to Shadow Clones was hardly the same, even if they seemed a lot more chatty and intelligent than he would have expected. "I trust you did not harm him for my transgressions?"

Jiraiya was silent for a few moments. "You were quite brutal. Crushing is a nasty way to go."

Gaara cocked his head to the side. "I have learned many ways to kill shinobi, Jiraiya-san. This was the most effective under the circumstances. Naruto was going to die with the next strike." In reality, of course, he'd attacked because of the blood, the hatred that had surged within. The man he had killed was of no consequence; he wasn't even really dead.

"I suppose you should be glad that we proved you were right in killing that man, even if a less permanent solution would have been preferable." Jiraiya shrugged. "What's done is done. You saved a Konoha shinobi's life; that certainly does not hurt your case."

"My case?"

"Never mind that now," Jiraiya said as he led the boy into the next room. Naruto was there, lounging in his chair with a bored expression. His eyes lit up and he smiled broadly as Gaara walked in. The blond quickly walked over, smiling.

"There you are! I was beginning to wonder if they put you in jail!" he exclaimed.

Gaara just stared at Naruto with a quirked eyebrow. "Coming from you, that is ironic."

Naruto scowled. "Yes, yes, I get it." Jiraiya and the Hokage looked on in mild confusion.

"Do you two know each other this well?" the Hokage asked first. "I was under the impression-"

"We met several years prior," Gaara said, glancing at Naruto. One of the clones had suggested an explanation for their meeting that didn't involve kidnappings, and he had no desire to get his father involved in all of this. An anonymous foreigner rushing to Naruto's aid, it seemed, was something beyond the realm of plausibility. He could see the boy wince at his words, though. Strange. "I was close to your village, and Naruto was by its borders. Our respective natures became clear quite quickly, even from a distance."

"We kept in touch with letters, sometimes," he added. "Gaara's got this cool ability to send sand a really long distance away, and if you put a letter in there..."

"That's fine, Naruto," the Hokage said, though he sounded a little odd. He turned to Gaara with a frown. "The Kazekage's son, coming to Konoha? You chose quite a spectacular way of introducing yourself, don't you think?" He glanced at Naruto. "I can understand the desire to protect a friend, but I am very concerned about the fact that you entered the village, infiltrated a hospital, and made it back outside the walls without being seen. It is behaviour worthy of a _spy_."

"I did not harm anyone," Gaara said blandly. "Punish me if you will. I acted out of haste, and left at Naruto's request. He did not want to begin an international incident."

The Hokage frowned warily. "Understandable as that is, it does not diminish my concerns. To put you in jail would send a message to Suna that I do not care for; our alliance is too important to lose so easily. I would have had no choice, if your victim had not been unusual." He turned to Naruto. "For the duration of Gaara-san's stay, he will be followed by ANBU."

"That is acceptable," Gaara said.

"I will arrange for guarded sleeping quarters, so that-"

"He can stay at my place," Naruto blurted. "I've already got a whole bunch of guards keeping an eye on my home anyway."

The Hokage frowned, looking mildly disturbed for a moment. Then, he sighed. "I suppose that is appropriate. You clearly already know each other well enough. I must stress, though, that you do not engage in any of your... questionable behaviour. No juvenile pranks, no training in distant fields or outside the walls." He looked at Naruto sharply. "He remains a foreign shinobi, and you are under watch."

"I will also place a monitoring seal on you," Jiraiya said. "It is non-intrusive, but will allow Konoha ANBU to track down your location with great accuracy. It can only be removed by me as well."

"To prevent me from moving about unnoticed, again," Gaara observed. "It was a singular event, but I will agree to the request. If I am attacked, however, I will defend myself."

The Hokage frowned as he looked at the boy. He seemed confused by something, and Gaara figured he knew what it was. The Hokage had heard the stories about Suna's 'monster child', no doubt. He expected the person he was when that voice, when Shukaku was unleashed. The lack of any such thing was unexpected, it seemed.

"You are quite cooperative," the Hokage muttered. "What are your orders?"

Gaara shrugged. "Irrelevant. I negotiated with my father to go to Konoha, instead of another, as he intended. I can swiftly communicate with my village if it is required, trough a method that cannot be imitated by others, due to my nature." He gestured vaguely towards his seal. "My presence should dissuade attacks upon your nation. In exchange, father expects that you will assist if an attack were to be launched upon our land."

"Not unexpected," Jiraiya murmured.

"The Kazekage would willingly let his jinchūriki go elsewhere?" the Hokage asked, half to Jiraiya. "That seems..."

"He has tried to kill me before," Gaara said neutrally. "Several times he has attempted to end my existence, likely so that the beast may be placed into another. I have fought off his attempts. For years, I have lived outside the village proper. He cannot control me, so he has no use for me."

"Yet, you have power. He knows that he weakens his village by sending you away," Jiraiya countered immediately. "The Kazekage is no fool."

"Is it foolish, to expect Konoha's help?" Gaara inquired. The wince from both the older men was pronounced. He knew that the diplomatic connection with Suna had been rough, but judging by the reaction, it was unlikely the two nations were on equal footing. "You are aware that there is a Missing-Nin of your village which may have interests in our village's assets, are you not? Or in its jinchūriki."

"Well, that's quite devious," Jiraiya observed.

"What is?" Naruto asked cluelessly, glancing between them all. Gaara was tempted to explain, but he was pretty sure the boy was acting again. He had no doubt pick up on the subtext that Orochimaru would now perhaps focus on this village, with two Jinchūriki within its borders. It was not a bad assumption.

"Will you defend Konoha as if it were your own village, should someone wish to attack you here?" The Hokage raised an eyebrow, steepling his fingers. "You bring a possible threat to this village. If your enemies follow you here, will you take responsibility?"

Gaara nodded sharply.

"Good." The Hokage glanced at Jiraiya, and they communicated something without any words. The latter stood up.

"Naruto, I think it's time we send you back to your team. We'll have a chat later," the Hokage said. "Right now, there's a few details I must discuss with Gaara-san. Alone."

"Oy, why is that?" Naruto asked heatedly. "Come on, you can't just shut me out! It's _Gaara_! If it weren't for me, how would you even know about him?"

Gaara looked on bemusedly. "I am quite capable of taking care of myself. You do not need to follow me everywhere."

"I know," Naruto muttered, fuming. "It's not like I don't know all this stuff already, anyway. Come on, give me some credit." Gaara grimaced slightly. The boy clearly didn't think he was up to the task of explaining himself, which was actually quite insulting.

"Gaara, could you show me your seal?" Jiraiya asked suddenly as he glanced between the two boys with narrowed eyes. "You too, Naruto. I need to check something. There's something weird going on with your chakra..."

Naruto blinked. "This isn't a perverted thing, right?"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Will you do it if I say _please_?"

Naruto sighed, raising his shirt and exposing his own seal; he still had active clones, so it was already visible. Suddenly, he froze. Gaara knew why: The paper seal. It was still attached to Gaara's own seal. He saw the blond glance between him and Jiraiya with a worried frown, and then his shoulders sagged. "Man, on day _one?_"

Gaara exposed his seal, and the seal paper stuck on top of it. The intricate figure shimmered in the light and Jiraiya's eyes went wide.

"What is _that_?"

"A seal, of course," Gaara answered blandly. "Are you satisfied?"

Jiraiya glared, impatient. "The paper one, what is it?" Jiraiya asked sharply. "It doesn't look _anything_ like the Fūinjutsu used in Suna. No, it reminds me a lot of..." He glanced at Naruto then. "Did you do this?"

"Yes, it's mine," Naruto said heavily. He shook his head. "You had to go and check the very first day, didn't you? I wanted to show you myself."

Jiraiya stepped closer, examining the paper. "Do you have any more of these?"

Naruto quickly retrieved one from his jacket and tossing it over. "Now it's all spoiled anyway. You had to be all observant and stuff. I have the design over in my house somewhere, these are just the ones I drew up for Gaara."

Jiraiya frowned as he looked over the paper seal with an intense look. He glanced back at the Hokage, and whatever they communicated, the Hokage's breath hitched for just a moment.

"When?"

"I made it a few weeks ago," Naruto said, looking away. "That version, anyway. I have others."

"It's meant for yourself." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Naruto agreed, and Gaara thought that had to be the first honest thing he had said that day. "It's designed to keep the Biju chakra completely separate from one's own. It has to be changed occasionally, but it works. It was a training tool."

"A _training _tool?" Jiraiya inquired. "This is advanced Fūinjutsu, on level with what you showed me the other day. But, this one functions properly, it seems. That's a level of skill I hadn't expected."

"It's just that one. I had incentive, alright?" Naruto sighed. "Look, you know how corrosive demonic chakra is. The body's not made to take that kind of damage. But, with my heritage, I have increased stamina and so forth. My mom's contribution, you could say. If I stop the Kyūbi's chakra, and then start it again, it gives a shock to the system. But..."

"That's very dangerous," Jiraiya said, narrowing his eyes. "Pain training, Naruto? That's not for any Genin, not even one as peculiar as you."

"Pain's just a side-effect of an imperfect seal." He glanced at Gaara. "My own works fine, and it allows me to do all kinds of cool stuff, like precision seals. The effect of the seal is that it greatly improves my chakra control, _and_ it enhances my healing ability a little, each time I use it. Also, it prevents the big fox from doing much of anything. That's how I used it. It leaves very little chakra that's detectable to the outside world, which makes it very helpful for stealth missions. Rip it off, and you have everything you would need for a full fight. It's custom-made, you could say."

"That's how you infiltrated the tower, and how Gaara-san entered the village," the Hokage said in understanding, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Naruto, you gave a foreign ninja a personal seal formula capable of hiding someone's chakra to this level? Are you out of your mind?"

"It's Gaara," Naruto objected. "Besides, it needs _my _chakra to activate it. Without the design papers, nobody is cracking that one any time soon."

"It's designed for the Nine-Tails, but it should work as well on any jinchuriki," Jiraiya murmured. "That's _brilliant._ Absolutely brilliant."

"Mom did some of the work, actually," Naruto said, smiling wistfully. "She didn't leave much in the way of scrolls, but those few I have, they're great..."

Jiraiya shook his head. "Oh, Naruto? You'll need to get some _other _eyes to look over it for you."

Naruto blinked at the non-sequitur. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Your hint. I promised, remember?" He raised an eyebrow, then pocketed the paper seal. "I will study this in-depth, I promise. It's been a while since I've seen a new seal in this line of study." He paused. "Now, scram. You were dismissed just a little while ago."

"Ah, come on! That's so unfair!"

The Hokage looked on with narrowed eyes. Gaara narrowed his own. Trust was hard to find, it seemed. Even here.

* * *

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed. "You're better!"

Naruto smiled nervously. "Yeah, the old man let me go after a meeting at the tower. It took forever, you know? There's someone I know who just arrived in town, so I got to do the whole introduction thing, and then a new seal came up... things got a little busy."

"You and your seals..." Sakura muttered.

"Who was the new arrival?" Sasuke wondered, twirling a kunai around his finger as he walked over to his teammates. "Anyone we would recognize?"

"He's a Suna shinobi, so probably not," Naruto said easily. "You'll meet him soon enough, I'm sure. He's sort of like you. Silent, except when it comes to talking about killing people. I'm also pretty sure he's had an urge to kill me once or twice."

"Hn. So, what did _you _do to get in the hospital? Honestly. Did you hit your knee, bruise your wrist? Something pathetic, I take it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Naruto said, smiling.

"You probably drank spoiled milk or something." Sakura murmured. Naruto snickered, and she just seemed confused about his reaction

"Let's hear it then," Sasuke added, folding his arms.

"You are _such _a hypocrite," Naruto retorted. "Won't say a word about what happened to _you_, and that had me worried for days. Now you want to know all about what happened to me in turn?" he laughed deviously. "Why, Sasuke, were you worried too?"

Sasuke looked away, but he didn't deny the accusation.

"Hah! I knew it!" He smiled warmly. "Thanks, guys. Kakashi told me that you tried to come visit, but they wouldn't allow you. Big mess, you know."

"They had the whole hospital closed up because of something," Sakura complained. "Well, not _all _of it, of course, but the floor you were on, and a few others, and the whole basement. Plus there were ANBU everywhere. Usually you don't even see those, let alone groups..."

"Eh, I'm intact, so I survived the hospital once more. I was kind of hoping we could get back to some training, since my muscles are all cramped up from laying in bed for a whole day." He stretched and winced. His enhanced healing was fixing his muscles, but the corrosive chakra was still pretty damaging. "Come on, let's have a spar."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "As long as it isn't another one of your crazy murderous ones."

Naruto smiled. "No promises."

"You two..." Sakura said, shaking her head. "You're incorrigible."

"Ah, Sakura, don't be like that. Well, I could fight you too, if you like? You've gotten good at using those super punches of yours, haven't you?"

"I've been practicing some," Sakura said hesitantly. "With you and Sasuke getting hurt all the time, Kakashi-sensei keeps ending up with me."

"You needed the most instruction," Sasuke said, and Sakura actually seemed to accept it, from _him_. Naruto was sure she would have punched him if he had said the same thing. "I never thought you'd be the Taijutsu type. Genjutsu and such, maybe, but hand-to-hand?"

"It is a good combination," Naruto noted. "Tsunade of the Sannin has super punches too, you know. You're taking that comparison pretty literally. Now all you need is medical jutsu, and a gambling problem." He snickered. "Probably drinking, too."

"Naruto!"

"What, it's totally true! Pervy Sage told me!" he explained. "So, what do you say we try and get another C-rank as soon as possible? With all the D-ranks we've been doing, ignoring the hospital visits, we're way ahead of most of the other rookies."

"Team 8 left on the mission that we might have received," Sakura said, frowning. "It didn't sound too exciting. Something with the border, I think. I think Ino's team is off on some training trip with their sensei too."

Sasuke scoffed. "Good riddance. We will take the next C-rank."

"I'll negotiate us something awesome," Naruto agreed, smiling. His mood lifted a little. Even with all the problems that the last few days had brought, with the ever-mounting pile of lies and half-truths he had to keep track of, his team was still his team. It felt good, very good, to have a couple friends that he could just hang out with, train with, without all the complicated stuff coming up. If he had missed anything in the last few years of his old life, it had to be his old team. Yes, Kakashi was still around, and even Sakura, but they had fundamentally changed. The former had been Hokage in a time of relative peace, but the stress of the job had still been high, and he had been quite a different person under that hat. Sakura... after Sasuke, she had never been quite the same.

This time, none of that would happen. He had to remind himself of that. However badly he thought of himself, however much he realized he was screwed up, no better than any shinobi who fought and killed for too long, in order to save too little, he still had that hope. He could keep Sasuke in the village. He could prevent Sakura's hope from crumbling away. He could even stop his own decline into someone he didn't want to be anymore, perhaps. One day, he might be able to stop the killing, to stop war, as he had originally intended.

He might still be the prophecy child, after all.

"Sasuke, you're definitely going down," Naruto announced as he cracked his knuckles. "Let me count you the ways..."

The Uchiha's eyes spun alight with the Sharingan. "You think so, do you? Kakashi's shown me a few tricks, you know..."

"Ah, come on, I asked to be there," Naruto complained. "You probably just stole all those, anyway. I knew I should have given you those freaky eye things."

"Given?" Sakura wondered aloud, glancing between the two. "I thought you said you activated them yourself?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, then rolled his eyes. "Didn't take long for the Uchiha ego to pop up, did it? Couldn't wait to scrub my role out? It's too late, you know. Even if you get super-awesome in the future, you'll always remember that you got your boost from that blond-haired punk in your team." He smirked.

Sasuke winced. "You helped me get the Sharingan, that is true," he acknowledged after a moment. "I activated it myself. I was technically correct, deadlast."

"The best kind of correct," Naruto said jovially. "And I'm not that anymore, you _prick_. I was the dead last in the academy, but only by design. You probably figured that out, right?" He slipped into a Taijutsu form that he had developed himself; some inspiration was taken from the fighting style of the frogs, but until he had Senjutsu back he couldn't really use that all-out. "Let's see it, genius."

"Boys," Sakura said with a sigh.

* * *

Naruto had finally gotten around to popping his remaining clones later that evening, and their memories weren't too dissimilar from the ones he had gotten before. For a moment the fact that they took _names _surprised him, but his clones had gotten remarkably similar to actual people over his life, after using it thousands of times. He supposed the accumulated experience did help some; his own improvements to make the clones survive their creator's naps probably contributed as well.

He'd received memories from three distinct minds, far removed enough from their creation to have gotten a little individuality. All three working on limited data, had assumed quite easily that their original version, their boss, had killed a man to save his own hide. Killed an _ally_, no less, in cold blood. That was some serious Orochimaru-like behaviour, and the clones had assumed it likely enough to work their whole plan around it. He'd been forced to play along, and by the time he'd met with Gaara, he could barely keep from reacting. Every lie that he heard - created by his mind, granted, indirectly - seemed just to add to the ever-growing pile.

He wasn't who he used to be, Naruto knew that, but he had never really realized just how different his mentality had become. He remembered his own life when he was younger, so full of joy and hope, willing to risk it all to save innocent people, or even guilty ones. Once, the thought of sacrificing people to save himself would have been so alien that he certainly would have rejected it outright. Now it was his _first assumption_. When had that happened?

He knew, really. It had been a _long_ time ago. He had gone back to the past, back to his youth, because it was the only way he saw to fix things. He had gone back as a coward, running away from the consequences of his actions, from his failure as the child of prophecy that Jiraiya had seen in him. That would have been something a young Naruto hated, cowardice. He kept comparing himself to that figure - a young Naruto, ignorant and idealistic. Not the same Naruto as stood here now, and probably a worthier one.

He realized now that perhaps the reason he had never made Hokage wasn't so much about being exemplary on the battlefield, which he was, but about something else. Something he'd seen when he started, but lost track of, somewhere along the way. Maybe Kakashi had seen it happen, back then, and that's why the hat had passed to Konohamaru instead of him.

Had he doused that spark of hope that convinced Jiraiya that he might be the child of prophecy? Had he given up on ending hatred after he had already conquered Kurama's, at least in part? It seemed like he had without realizing it, and he didn't know what to do about that.

Yes, he had changed things back here, but he had also started off _exactly_ as he had lived in the future. Kill first, don't ask questions. Mizuki and Gato deserved it, granted, but he hadn't even considered alternatives. In his zeal to save people, he had lost some part of himself that made the actions have meaning. His killing of Mizuki prevented the closer connection between Iruka and himself to really form; he hadn't even spoken to the man since the exams. Taking out Gatō had saved lives, but Inari would still not understand the meaning of being a hero, and Zabuza and Haku were still out there, as swords for hire. He had heard the tales of strong Missing-nin near the village, which had prevented C-ranks for a time; he knew exactly who had been there, working for the enemy.

It wasn't that his motives were wrong: Saving people was a worthy goal. The problem, he realized, was that he had gone about it in a bad way. His trip to Suna, successful as it had been, had nasty side-effects too. Gaara was here, sure, but as a result he had attracted Orochimaru's attention. Hidan had nearly killed him out there, and without Gaara's last-minute save he might well have succeeded. Whoever or whatever had turned his clone against him, or stolen that blood, he knew too much now, and had gotten away. And then there was the medic. Without Ryosuke's help, he would have died. His life was another one diminished from the previous go-around, becominng nothing more than a sacrifice.

"I really wish I was young again," he whispered to himself. "That I didn't just look it." He sighed. The only time he could forget his situation, at least a little, when he could live like he was eleven, was when he was with the others. Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi-sensei.

He had been acting selfishly, of late, without really considering the consequences of his actions. Even in calculating the risks, in trying to work every event into his favour, he had caught himself in an ever-greater web of lies, one that was constricting him. He saw the clockwork consequences of the things he changed, but he had never really considered the people involved, nor the fact that his cold and harsh methods could only lead to cold and harsh results.

Now that he knew, had realized what he had been doing, he would have to change. People were beginning to suspect, were starting to see the cracks in the disguise that had worked so well, for a time. He'd tried to ignore the evidence, but it was undeiable that some suspected. The Hokage, maybe. Pervy Sage, probably. Kakashi, _definitely_. He would have to choose. Either live life as a world-weary shinobi in a boy's body, coldly excising that which he didn't like the first time around. Or, he could take the other route. The risky one; the way in which he could eventually tell the truth. In which he could be the idealistic numb-skull he used to be.

It would be hard. He would have to let go of a lot of emotional baggage, would have to hurt himself first, before he could heal.

"Well, I've always been the one to power through adversity rather than wait it out, so why would now be any different?" he muttered to himself, and it felt like a load on his back was lightened a little.

He remembered Haku's words, suddenly, from long ago, as if they had been said just yesterday. He knew why they emerged now - they had encapsulated his life, prior the to the fourth war. 'When people are protecting something truly precious to them, they truly can become as strong as they need to be.'

Well, then, he would do that. He couldn't just focus on the next kill and forget the village, which held almost all of the people precious to him. He would train with Jiraiya, showing him _all _the seals he had made. He would show Kakashi what he could, stop playing his role. Most of all, he would try to stop lying about everything, as if it was a compulsion. He need to get away from that mentality.

He couldn't be just Naruto; that wasn't enough. A smile made its way to his face, then. The first genuine one in quite a while. He would protect everyone, as he once promised. He would be the Leaf's Naruto, and the future Hokage.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I admit, the Danzo stuff was pushed ahead a little, apologies. Next chapter will deal with the Hokage's and Naruto's actions, and so forth. Also, titledrop. :P**  
**


	14. Connections

**Chapter 14 – Connections**

It was an odd experience, being a teacher to a bunch of Genin. Kakashi had never really thought about what it would be like, after he finally passed some poor group of academy students; the first few groups were as unsuitable as they were incompetent. He had effectively given up on finding anyone suitable in the near future, and had concentrated on doing missions once more; a lot of solo ones in particular, of a less volatile nature than his previous type, when he was still among the ANBU.

His years among those protectors of the village had been tough, and though he looked back on the whole experience with pride, the significant danger involved with every engagement and the busy schedule had made it a harrowing job. Worse still were the hellish effects on one's psyche; more than a few ANBU had gone insane during the time he was among them, or turned into nervous wrecks by the end. He had personally had to take one of them down.

Alongside testing one's physical health, which was done by Medical-nin, there were also counsellors who gauged whether or not one had the mental stability to continue. It was embarrassing to think back on it now, but Kakashi himself had been called for a check-up no less than six times; five times he had evaded them to the last minute. He had simply gotten used to perpetually being late, so that he was rescheduled, and the habit had stuck. Obito would have been proud.

Kakashi sighed as he thought back to those people assigned to assess his mind; they hadn't been at fault, they had simply been doing their job. They had posed him hypotheticals and asked him questions, and in turn he had just argued to remain in ANBU while ignoring the majority of their concerns. He was still an expert in assassination, high-risk retrieval, and the acquisition of foreign techniques, so he felt like he couldn't drop out from one moment to the next, and most of the higher-ups had the same opinion.

He had obligations to his village and his fellow ANBU, and he would keep going until he dropped. That approach worked, mostly. Early on, the complaints about him had been inconsequential, minor annoyances between colleagues that heaped up. They were listed as indicators more than actual problems, and Kakashi paid them no mind. There was at least one Inuzuka ANBU who perpetually scored low on a whole range of mental checklists because he treated the counsellors like they were dirt under his feet

Issues had gotten more pronounced and demonstrably unhealthy in later years. The job, rather than getting too hard for him, was beginning to feel too easy, too natural. Kakashi barely realized it until after the fact, but he had ended up overestimating himself, taking risks he rationally knew he shouldn't, and had put other ANBU at risk for little reward. Really, he had started to lose focus, the drive that had kept him going for years. Perhaps it was just age catching up, though Gai would vigorously disagree, or a little of Obito was seeping through in the end. Whatever the reason, he knew his little adventure was drawing to a close.

Thus, after stalling his departure for two years longer than most ANBU even stayed on, he had given in to his growing doubts and the declining scores, even if he was still as good at finishing missions as ever. He had gone to the scheduled counselling session exactly when it was supposed to be, and that alone had signalled that his career behind the porcelain mask was over. He had offered his resignation from ANBU, and the Hokage had accepted it graciously. Perhaps he had even seemed a little relieved.

Now, a few years down the line, Kakashi knew he had made the right choice, even if he kept in touch with almost everyone who was still serving in ANBU, since many of his best friends were among them. One of them was a student he ha taught, as a 'veteran' of sorts; Tenzō, the only person besides the First Hokage to use the_ Mokuton._ Precious few ANBU took apprentices, when they joined the force; the Hokage had taken notice of it, and that's how he got his current job.

He was a sensei, now. He was the teacher of three precocious brats, just as weird as his own team had been, if in different ways. It seemed fitting that he would be assigned the group of oddballs. For many reasons, his new team reminded him of his own early years.

Sasuke, of course, was the very image of the Uchiha clan, and as their last survivor in the village he had a lot to live up to. Stubborn and proud of it, the boy seemed unwilling to admit weakness, and focused on comparing his strength to his teammates and his brother, to the exclusion of almost everything else. A problematic personality, but not one that couldn't be changed; there was certainly enough to work with when it came to the boy's conflicting interests. Now, with the Sharingan active, he was also a real danger in a fight. Kakashi smiled grimly; he knew how effective that Kekkai Genkai could be.

Sakura was perhaps even more peculiar than Sasuke, though; he at least had been predictable. The odd one out in the team from Kakashi's first impressions, Sakura had turned out to be remarkable in her own way. Aside from near-perfect chakra control by sheer instinct, even before training properly begun, her control over its uses was already formidable within the first few lessons. Aside from the beginnings of what could well be an excellent Medical-Nin, there was also that incredible strength and reaction speed, usually hidden away behind a facade of weakness. She had a talent for Taijutsu that the academy had not discovered, and the emotional volatility to make good use of it. In Gai's team, perhaps, she would have been spotted even sooner; his friend had an eye for that kind of raw ability, as evidence by Rock Lee. Talent for medical skills and Taijutsu - Naruto's estimation of her as a new Tsunade did not seem as unfounded anymore.

That brought him to Naruto. There was a whole book he could write on _that _one. Kakashi's initial assessment, simplistic and superficial as it was, had painted the orange-clad loudmouth off as the clown of the group, his sensei's kid, but with all the subtlety of an ox. He had expected the boy to be the straggler, constantly catching up to the others, like Obito had been.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Naruto wasn't the idiot that he had expected, or the one the academy teachers or Hokage described. No, he was _dangerous._ He didn't show it much, but his instinctive responses were measured and controlled; it seemed almost as if Naruto was used to lashing out with deadly force, and had to check himself to avoid it. Even when he was at his most relaxed, Naruto's heart raced and his muscles tensed when others came near. Kakashi's senses were attuned enough to notice, and it was decidedly peculiar. ANBU had those kinds of reactions; the instinctive preparations of trained killers who anticipated every possible avenue of attack, and could counter at a moment's notice. He knew those instincts well, as he had developed them himself over several painstaking years. Genin didn't have them; not ordinary ones, anyway.

Naruto sometimes acted as if he had grown up in ANBU, as if he took account of every threat around him at all times. His youthful life hadn't been stellar, that was true, but this tasted of something more than an orphan's experience, and Kakashi figured that the easiest explanation was also one of the most disconcerting. There was intent behind the boy's actions - he must have trained himself from an early age, perhaps by spying on his elders, those who wouldn't think twice about kids hanging around. He had prepared his body and mind for the life of a shinobi, even before he actually became one. Now that he had graduated, he tried not to improve too quickly, so that his peers wouldn't notice.

It sent a chill down Kakashi's back; not because it was unheard of, but because it was so disturbingly familiar. Without parents to give him incentive, without knowledge about his connections or his burden for years yet, the boy had started on the exact same road his teacher had.

Kakashi had been six when he graduated from the academy, perhaps four or five when he had properly started training. It was a ridiculously young age, even among shinobi, but war was coming. Konoha needed every talent that it could get, and the son of the White Fang was hard to miss. He had officially reached Chūnin not too long after his graduation. It was no surprise; he had been training for as long as he could remember, and he had stormed past his fellow Genin easily. It would take some years before his body had grown enough that he could fit in a proper team, and it was no surprise that he was assigned to one of the most powerful shinobi of the village, even then: Namikaze Minato.

That man's son, Naruto, had chosen another route. He had trained, he had prepared, but he hadn't graduated. Kakashi could understand why. The Kyūbi-boy, graduating at six: It was unthinkable. Shinobi would get nervous, and civilians would panic at the thought of such power combined with such talent, especially when they had hardly been the most courteous to the child. So the boy had laid low. Kept his grades close to failing, lost intentionally, perfected his stealth to Chūnin level or beyond so that his true activities wouldn't be noticed. He had started stealing scrolls to learn techniques while playing the idiot during the daylight hours. Doubtlessly the Shadow Clone technique was no accidental acquisition either; there was good chance the boy had been skipping school for ages, letting one of his clones attend whenever there were no Taijutsu classes to expose him. Then he had watched and waited until a team came by that suited him, perhaps one he had chosen years before. The one to graduate highest in a class usually ended up with the dead last; Naruto had gotten himself onto the strongest team of his year.

"Your son's a sly one," Kakashi murmured, and he smiled as he tapped his sensei's name on the memorial stone. "I should have expected that, really."

The fact that Naruto had potential not unlike his own, or Uchiha Itachi's, had uncomfortable implications, though. None of those 'young geniuses' really had the stability of mind that they ought to have. They had the brainpower, but not necessarily the wisdom to put it to good use. He himself had been bound to the rules, obsessed with them since the death of his father. Itachi's madness was perhaps even more clearly visible; the death of his entire clan spoke volumes on that. There were others, but not many made it through childhood intact, and fewer still remained loyal to the village.

The boy had been slipping, though. Becoming a ninja had clearly impacted the boy's life significantly, and perhaps he could not combine his sleuthing with his actual work anymore. The boy had been unsteady, early on, forgetting or entirely skipping his assignments. He was even going on training trips and letting his clones take care of filling in for him, not realizing that such a tactic would not work as easily as it did on academy teachers. The comfortable lifestyle Naruto had built up had been shattered, and though he was making connections with his teammates, he wasn't being truthful with them. Not all the time, anyway. So used to his artificial personality, Kakashi wondered if the boy had difficulty letting it go. It was a problem he had heard of before, particularly among ANBU, but not with Genin.

Of course, Naruto was no ordinary Genin.

There was the scuff of a boot on sand to Kakashi's side, sharp and loud. Intentional. The Jōnin's eye slowly slid over to take in the new arrival, and widened slightly. The subject of his thoughts stood beside him, hands in the pockets of his black-and-orange vest, blue eyes focused on the memorial stone before him. His expression was unusually sullen and it seemed almost as if there were tears in his eyes.

"Have you come to remember and reflect, too?" Kakashi asked amiably, though his mind wandered to the arrival. If the boy hadn't scuffed a boot, would he have noticed? That was Jōnin-level stealth, at least.

Naruto didn't answer for a long moment; finally he reached out to the unmarked section of the plaque he was facing. "The name of the one I mourn isn't on here yet." He sighed, glancing with pain-filled eyes to his side. "You understand, don't you?"

Kakashi nodded slightly. That was the latest oddity surrounding Naruto: Whatever happened at the hospital. The last time they had spoken before that particular event, things had been fine. Naruto had then ended up strapped to a bed, under suspicion of murder; he hadn't even imagined that it was true until he saw the bloody seal drawn on the floor, or heard Asuma's disturbed recollections. Even when he feared it might have been the boy's doing after all, he had firmly told himself to hold off on that kind of idea until after Ibiki was done. Thankfully, the man had vindicated Naruto's story; his victim had not been himself, and a third party had done the killing.

That, though, was not what had made Kakashi think. He had observed the boy enough to pick up when he was nervous, when he was trying to control his reactions and failing. His control had been shoddy since he woke up in the hospital bed, and during the trip down to the hospital's morgue, he'd been able to tell a lot from the way the boy spoke and acted. The alarming thing was that as far as he could tell, the boy's lies came out as fluently as the truth, even if his body showed unintentional hints of deception. When the topic of a suspect came up, it had become crystal clear; Naruto was hiding things, lying about significant events, and it was only because his control was slipping that he had been able to tell.

There had been no encounter in the woods, an event that he had described to the Hokage with what he understood to be remarkable severity. He had implicated an unknown shinobi for a number of crimes, including aiding Orochimaru, and the Hokage had taken him at his word. Now, Kakashi was certain, the entire event had been made up. Was Naruto already preparing people to take the fall for him, should anything happen?

"You are very silent," Naruto said, glancing to his side. "Don't you talk to them, usually?"

"You've seen me here before," Kakashi concluded, distractedly rubbing his hitai-ate, where Obito's eye was recuperating from its last use. "Usually I do, yes. I don't know if the dead can hear us, but I like to think they can."

"I speak to dad, sometimes," Naruto said. "And mom. I am confident they can hear us, wherever they are." He rubbed his stomach. "I usually don't go here; I go to the Hokage monument. I always thought it was more fitting."

"He liked it up there, too," Kakashi agreed. "He would stand on those heads and look out over the village."

"He really was a protector of the village," Naruto said softly, putting his hand on the memorial stone and searching out his father's name. "I have to apologize for something," he said after a moment. "I haven't been totally honest with you."

"Hmmm?" Kakashi blinked. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you everything," Naruto said, looking away. "But you deserve some answers. I've been... holding back in training with the team, in missions. I thought it would make me fit in better with everyone, make the others catch up more quickly, so forth. Didn't really think it would cause a mess."

"I had surmised as much," Kakashi agreed, eyebrow rising. "Why come out with that now?"

Naruto sighed, and didn't speak for a long time. Finally, he broke the silence before Kakashi could ask again. "I promised someone that I'd make my father proud," he said, smiling weakly. "I promised another that I would try and stop working myself into such a mess by hiding everything. I suppose I got used to it, _too _used to it."

"That happens," Kakashi agreed, glancing askance at his student. "So, you have still been holding back. I had assumed you were the strongest of my Genin already, but how powerful are you, really?"

Naruto frowned, and Kakashi wondered if the boy actually had to think about the answer. After a few moments, the boy shrugged. "On the high end of Chūnin in most things, I guess. Taijutsu, defence against Genjutsu, speed, strength. That doesn't include the Kyūbi's boost to those sorts of things, of course." He hesitated for a moment, then pressed on. "Also I have Jōnin-level or higher Ninjutsu, I'm sure. I think Jiraiya's the best judge for my Sealing, but I think it's better than he's letting on when I'm around."

Kakashi felt a chill run down his back as he remembered his sensei, Naruto's father, commending his self-created technique, _Chidori. _It had been imperfect before he received Obito's Sharingan, but after that, it had become a monstrously effective technique. Jōnin-level or higher, easily. He remembered the words that his old teacher had given him then. "You're playing with the kinds of techniques I like to use, aren't you?" Kakashi repeated. "At your age? What are you trying to do, make me jealous?"

Naruto smiled widely, and for a moment Kakashi had the eerie idea that Naruto knew _exactly_ what he was referring to.

"I'll show you a lot of the stuff I've picked up, when we have some free time," Naruto said, closing his eyes. "Sensei, there is… something else." He paused. "Sometimes I worry that I'm losing things that I can't afford to lose, in this race to be a shinobi. I feel like I'm three times my age, and it's painful to keep up appearances. It's hard not to fall into bad habits too, for that matter. What do I do?"

Kakashi knew that feeling all too well. But it was hardly something a Genin should have to deal with. He supposed it was only a matter of time before someone got sick of ANBU before ever really joining it, considering how gruelling it was. "I think that's something you have to work through yourself, since you're clearly not ready to tell people about whatever's bugging you. Jōnin-level techniques coupled with Jōnin-level issues. You're an odd one, aren't you?"

"The most surprising ninja of Konoha," Naruto agreed. "Reason I'm here is that I can't keep it up anymore, this whole _other _me. I don't think I can afford to, either. I can't just toss everything away, but..." He grimaced. "I'd like there to be some truth among the team, at least. I know I can trust you, but I'm afraid that if this keeps going, the other way around would become impossible."

Kakashi sighed, reaching over and putting his hand on the boy's blond mop of hair; Naruto stilled under the touch. "Don't be silly, now, Naruto. You're a thieving little miscreant with a personality malfunction that an ANBU could be proud of, but you're still my student, and that means that you can trust me, and I will trust you. Unless you do something _really_ heinous, I won't abandon you for anything."

"There is _this._" Naruto raised his hand before him, cupped, and Kakashi's eyes widened when chakra gathered within it, swirling in on itself until a shining sphere of chakra formed above it. It had taken only moments before Naruto released it again. The chakra dissipated harmlessly.

"_Rasengan. _How...?"

Naruto didn't answer that question, pertinent as it was. He looked down at his feet instead. "I would like it if you didn't spread around that I can do that. There are not many people who know the technique, and people would draw conclusions if they saw another blond with the _Rasengan_. But you're my teacher. You ought to know."

"Did Jiraiya teach you that? In such a short time?"

A smirk ghosted across Naruto's lips before it vanished. "No, the lessons I got since he returned to town have been all about Sealing, and even then, there haven't been many of those sessions. I'm sorry, some things I can't just explain without endangering other people, so I'll keep it to myself. You'll have to trust me on that."

Kakashi didn't know what to say. "You're keeping secrets to keep people safe, then? A good reason, even if it makes me _very_ curious."

Naruto sighed, looking away uncomfortably. "I wish there was someone I could tell, but I suppose it'll take time before I get around to something like that. Funny how that works."

"If you think it's important, you can talk to me. But, if that won't work…" Kakashi said hesitantly, thinking back to his own youth, when he had kept his true emotions hidden from everyone as well, hiding behind the regulations. "I will trust you to tell me what I need to know, and to seek advice when you must."

Naruto stilled again, and then relaxed with a smile. "Thanks, sensei. It means a lot to me."

Kakashi smiled, wondering if he should really settle for trusting that his student had some sense. He decided he should. The boy seemed to be here to make some amends, and that was more than he had expected. It was like Sasuke approaching him and telling him he was going to avoid chasing Itachi for now, unthinkable. Perhaps the boy really had changed his mind about his actions; he had to give Naruto a chance, as he would with Sasuke or anyone else. "I'll be keeping an eye on you, though," he said quickly.

Naruto laughed outright, then. "I suppose I have that coming!"

It wasn't until several minutes after the two had left the memorial stone behind, that a third figure detached from the shadows, adjusting its mask. Then, it vanished in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

Naruto made his way across the rooftops with ease, though he was still getting used to where everything was again; the new Konoha that was built after Nagato's attack had been considerably different in layout, and he found himself turned around quite a few times in this old-timey version.

His mind was still with Kakashi, and their little talk. No, he hadn't blurted out his whole life's story. He couldn't even if he had wanted to, and he knew that even with his decision to change his approach, it would be suicidal to tell anyone in broad daylight without a hundred privacy seals on every available surface. Thus, though he hadn't been entirely truthful, he had avoided telling blatant lies and stopped himself forcibly from giving the easiest answer. Better that Kakashi knew that he was keeping secrets from him, than that the man figured out that he was constantly lying, and never took his word seriously again. Perhaps it wasn't too late, yet.

A small army of clones was seeking every inch of the Fourth's base, now that it had been compromised, and retrieved everything of value before closing it for good. They were there for a second reason: To figure out who had been manipulating them from the shadows, replacing a clone with themselves or otherwise getting a blood sample to Hidan. Even if he wasn't going to tackle things solo again, he couldn't afford to let loose ends lie around, or for something like that to happen again. The clones were him, he trusted them. If someone was capable of just turning them on him, the technique could become compromised.

He put his tough thoughts aside as he reached his target, the academy.

"Iruka-sensei."

The schoolteacher turned suddenly, blinking in confusion as he glanced up to where the voice had come from. He adjusted his hitai-ate nervously as he glanced at the would-be Genin behind him, training their basic sparring techniques. "Naruto. What are you doing here? Don't you have missions?"

"In a few hours," Naruto agreed. He jumped down from the roof with his hands in his pockets, landing without as much as a sound. The few students who had noticed him gaped. "I thought I would pay a visit to my favourite teacher, you know? See how he's doing without me to mess up his class?"

Iruka chuckled lightly. "Ah, Naruto, there are those who would gladly take your place, you know. Konohamaru for one is very spirited."

"He the Third's grandson; I can imagine." Naruto smiled as he waved at the students who looked at him curiously. "I never really thanked you about the care you showed in the academy, did I? All those years, and you always seemed to believe I could make it, even when I was doing really badly. I figured you would have given up on me early on."

Iruka smiled. "Honestly, I didn't think I'd keep it up, either."

"Because of..." He rubbed his stomach and raised an eyebrow. "I understand it, you know."

The teacher looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment. "I was referring to all your pranks and jokes, not to matter all the times you were late. I learned that you weren't _that_ creature, you know. Maybe I thought differently early on, but when I actually met you..."

"I know, and I appreciate it," Naruto said with a smile. "You are a much better person and ninja than you would lay claim to, you know. Humble to a fault, too."

Now Iruka was just blushing. "Well, I wouldn't say _that..._"

"Too humble to do so, eh? Just proves me right."

"Well..." he sighed. "I give up."

"And thus another mighty victory goes to Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage!" He thumbed up and smiled widely when a few of the students clapped at his exclamation. "Seems like the brats agree with me. Well, I suppose they're only a little younger, so that's unfair. Toddlers, maybe?"

"You know what, just for that, you'll help me out with a demonstration." He grabbed Naruto by the ear. "Come here, you. You've attended this lesson three times, so it should be easy enough to replicate for you. I'm exhausted, and I don't feel like wasting chakra, too. You've got an overdose."

Naruto let himself be dragged along, exaggeratedly twitching as he was dropped in front of a class of thirty or so ten-year olds. Probably next year's batch of Genin; he could see quite a few familiar faces in the group, though he was uncomfortably aware that some might have died in the attacks on Konoha and never made it far beyond this age.

"Er, hi everyone. What's this lesson about, exactly?"

"This here's a graduate from last year's class," Iruka noted, poking Naruto as he stepped up. "As you can see, he's wearing his hitai-ate, which means he's now a Genin. There are three jutsu that you have to know before you can graduate and become one yourself, and though we've covered all three before, I think that Naruto can demonstrate what you can really do with those kinds of techniques in a more practical demonstration."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head nervously, suddenly feeling a bit of regret as he looked out over all those young faces. "R-Right. Well, I suppose I should get right to that, then. The first, of course, is the _Kawarimi..." _He quickly transported himself across the courtyard a few times by switching out with chairs, a small table, and even a handy log, for old time's sake. Finally he ended by replacing himself with Iruka; you needed a lot of chakra to move a shinobi like that, but Naruto had plenty to spare.

"That wasn't very nice," Iruka muttered as he picked himself up from the floor; he had been sitting down, and the chair hadn't come along.

"Obviously, that technique is extremely useful in a fight," Naruto commented while ignoring the Chūnin, and smiled at all the interested looks. "Next, there's the _Bunshin._" He brought his hands together, and poured as little chakra as he could into the technique. Even with his effort, though, there were still six slight pops as the lesser versions of his clones came into existence, as ethereal as a ghost. "I can't really do this one too well, since my chakra control isn't the best, so I always overshoot it. I use another version, the shadow clone, instead."

"That leaves only one," Iruka noted.

Naruto smiled deviously and brought his hands together. "Yes. The _Henge. _The most devious of the three academy techniques._" _A burst of smoke erupted on the stage; far more than any transformation usually led to. It wasn't a surprise of course since he hadn't done a normal _Henge._ No, this was payback for setting him in front of a bunch of impressionable kids.

"NARUTO!" Iruka yelled. "Cancel that atonce! I should have known better than to think you matured!"

"I call it my _Sexy no jutsu!_" Naruto yelled with a laugh as he flipped himself easily onto the roof in a single movement In a display of acrobatics that gave even Iruka pause. "I'll have a better one next time, kids!"

"Can we have him as teacher again?" One boy asked just loud enough to be heard as Naruto walked away with a wide grin. Personal Mission: Get back in contact with Iruka-sensei, successful. He would be back here before the week was over, Naruto was sure. He had missed messing with the man.

* * *

The Uchiha district was abandoned these days, with the few building that were still in use overshadowed by dozens that were vacated and closed down; they would have been torn own entirely if Sasuke had let it happen. He walked there, occasionally, to get a stark reminder of his goal, of why he wanted to go after his brother.

It was more terrifying, now. The Sharingan saw details that he would have never considered. Bloodstains on the front porches of half the houses, for one. They had been scrubbed clean, covered with bleach, but even now the remnants of the dead Uchiha remained, etched into the cracks and the crevices, telling the story of the massacre, even if nobody else cared enough to come back here and mourn.

To have the Sharingan was a privilege on one hand, but a burden on the other. For now, he chose to look at it as the former. He had finally gained those eyes, the legendary dōjutsu of his clan, the trait that elevated his clan above others in the past, and the only asset that could be strong enough to use against his brother's power, against those terrible eyes that had told him off. They weren't even fully active yet, and already he could see everything more clearly, more quickly, and more thoroughly. Four new techniques he had gained from Kakashi, all of them easy to pick up with these new eyes, though it would take time to master them.

Though he loathed admitting it, he had not activated the eyes by himself; that orange brat from his academy class, the one person he had written off early on and never thought about again, had helped him. Indeed, Naruto had turned out to be peculiar in a number of other ways, such as his highly developed skills in Fūinjutsu, alongside a remarkably gigantic chakra supply. He had never noticed the boy in class because he didn't want to be noticed, and Sasuke was annoyed with himself for missing such deception.

Only a short time ago, he had almost been killed. It was hard to think back to it, but Sasuke remembered the pain of the hit as a kunai buried itself in his upper arm, remembered the one-eyed stare from beneath a cowl before his attacker covered his eyes with his unnaturally cold hand. He had no idea what the man intended to do, and had panicked; he was completely at the attacker's mercy, who was easily Jōnin level, and his limbs wouldn't move.

Whatever the man would have said or done, it was cut short. Kakashi had appeared with lightning flashing in his palms, and Sasuke had collapsed. Whatever his sensei had done thereafter he didn't know; it was all too quick, too loud, and he was bleeding out. All he knew was that a few minutes later, as his consciousness was leaving him, Kakashi had reappeared. His clothes were torn, a thin line of blood descended down his face from under his hitai-ate, and his mask was torn, though it somehow managed to remain attached. The Jōnin had helped him to a hospital bed right after.

The attack had been sudden, and unexplained. Kakashi had no answers, only questions, and even the Yamanaka that came by hadn't been able to tell much more than the basics of the attack, no more than Kakashi had been able to tell without his help.

Neither the fear for his life, nor the terror of bleeding out, had been enough to activate the Sharingan. He had tried. He had used his rudimentary chakra control to send chakra to his eyes, desperately hoping that he could use those eyes to see who the enemy was. He supposed in retrospect that Kakashi used his Sharingan too, and he wouldn't have been able to either. Still, he had failed to activate them.

Then Naruto had come along.

He didn't know what to think about that. The man that had attacked him, vicious as he had been, had come nowhere close to the kind of hatred that his fellow student had displayed. Indeed, with a sickening feeling he realized that even the fear he had held for Itachi, at the massacre, had barely been as strong as what Naruto had caused. How? How had the dead last known how to activate the Sharingan, much less possess the ability to do it on command? How could his hatred be greater than the man who attacked him with intent to kill? How could it be greater than _Itachi's_?

The only explanation that he could get to was disturbing. There had been rumours about Naruto for ages, talk among the villagers and his clan alike. He remembered well that some of the lesser members of the clan, generally disillusioned with the village, were particularly angry about a 'monster walking free'. He had figured it was hyperbole for the hyperactive kid that liked to pull big pranks; the academy had only intensified that impression, when he had found out that Naruto was hardly any more powerful or dangerous than most kids; indeed, he came across as _weaker. _

Yet, he definitely wasn't.

He had travelled halfway across the compound and return to the building he slept in when there was a soft swish of cloth on wood, and he froze.

"Uchiha-san."

Sasuke looked up, nonplussed, to find an ANBU leaning over the edge of one of the clan homes; the source of the sound, no less. He had a bear mask on and was heavily built, and it was remarkably he hadn't made the roof creak.

"What is it?"

"I have come to deliver a request." The man reached into his pocket, retrieving a small scroll. "Reply within two days. Do not be late." The black scroll dropped and the man was gone before it reached the ground.

"Hn." Sasuke picked it up gingerly, wonder what that was all about. Why would an ANBU deliver letters like this? Any mail for him could just go into the Uchiha mailbox, as he was the only one who had access to it, or it could be delivered to Kakashi who served as his team leader. Personal messages like this were certainly not usual among Genin.

He set that thought aside as he unrolled it; it was blank. Sasuke blinked in confusion when he frowned and concentrated. The Sharingan spun into his eyes, and the characters appeared on the paper, clear as day. Whatever seal was etched into the paper, he could only barely make it out, made it impossible to read for anyone without these eyes, which meant they were aware that he had activated them. Curious.

It was clear why the messenger had gone to such lengths to hide this delivery. After Sasuke read it in full, he lowered it with a scowl. It was not signed, but the context of the words said enough. This wasn't the kind of thing you wanted anyone to get out, which is why the ANBU had waited until Sasuke was entirely alone before delivering.

He slipped the message into his pocket, contemplating the contents as his Sharingan deactivated once more. Interesting, really. He had just been thinking about his weird little teammate, and now he found out there were others who were similarly interested. The letter had been explicit: Spy on Uzumaki Naruto regarding his abilities, and deliver any and all information to an ANBU, who would retrieve it every week. In exchange he would get Sharingan training about techniques that not even his brother had mastery of, though it didn't list who would be giving such lessons, or when.

Sasuke frowned in earnest. Naruto was a teammate. He couldn't just spy on a teammate because an anonymous person told him to. Not even for the power he needed against Itachi. Yet, he hesitated. It was only spying, not actively hurting him. The blond was loud, so what harm would it do to relay his latest crazy antics? If there was training in the equation as well, wasn't it worth it? Wouldn't a bit of overhearing weigh up against the advances he could make in reaching Itachi's level?

Still considering what to do, he walked into his home and slammed the door.

* * *

"Neji?"

The Hyūga jerked in surprise and looked up, startled; probably not a frequent occurrence with those eyes. He composed himself in moments, though, and stared at Naruto with undisguised loathing. "Oh. It is you."

"Yeah..." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Can you forgive me for that thing with your hair? I swear, I've stopped doing that sort of stuff since the academy."

Neji just narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here? We are almost in the Hyūga compound."

"Well, of course we are, I came looking for _you,_" Naruto exclaimed. "Hinata's off outside the village somewhere on a mission, and you're the only Hyūga I know besides her..."

"...What is your point?"

Naruto glanced around, reaching into his pocket. "Look, this isn't what it looks like, okay? I've got an assignment for Jiraiya-sensei, and he gave me this tip about eyes. I figured he meant the Sharingan at first, but I've been thinking that it was probably wrong..."

Actually, he had just thought logically about what he knew so far. The seal to block himself from reading the book was obvious, as was the one to block Kakashi, or anyone with the Sharingan. The latter seemed like it probably wouldn't exist, though, or the Uchiha would certainly have rebelled over _that._ JIraiya, however, had referred to _eyes,_ which probably didn't mean the lonesome Sharingan of Kakashi, nor Sasuke's, still locked at that time. Unless Jiraiya meant for him to go find Nagato, his best bet was the Byakugan. It figured, of course, that _Neji_ was the only one around that he knew with that dōjutsu, now that Hinata was out of town.

"Jiraiya…?" Neji repeated. "The Sannin?"

"Yes, that's the one," Naruto agreed. "He's helping me get better at sealing, and I figured I needed someone from your family to get on with the puzzle. I hoped you could take a look and tell me what your all-seeing eye thing sees." He held out the book quickly, and Neji recoiled.

"That book…"

"Yeah… it's his idea of a joke," Naruto explained, reluctant to admit that it was probably standard business for Jiraiya, considering the man had even left his dying message in these books. The thought wasn't the most comfortable, but he reminded himself that the man still iived, this time. "I suppose it's part of the trick he uses. He writes these excuses for novels, so I guess he just decided it was as good as anything to use for a test…"

"My uncle has this…" Neji said in disgust and Naruto blanched for a moment. Much to Naruto's surprise, Neji nodded his assent. The Hyūga opened the book and activated his Byakugan, as evidenced by suddenly clearly visible veins at his temples. He looked at the pages for a long moment, narrowing his eyes. "Three seals, right?"

"You can see them right through the pages with the Byakugan?" Naruto wondered. "Imagine how handy that would be…"

"It's not that, precisely," Neji said levelly. "The Byakugn doesn't see _seals, _but what they're made of."

Naruto marvelled at how civil the boy was being, to the point of accepting a glorified porn novel and helping out. He supposed that the boy hadn't found out about Hinata's rather embarrassing crush on him, something he hadn't really considered considering he was technically a lot older now, or he simply wasn't as high-strung as during the Chūnin Exams the last time around.

Neji glanced up when Naruto didn't ask a follow-up question. He answered the unasked query anyway. "The Byakugan allows me to see chakra, and the flow of it. Active seals are always fuelled by a slight flow of chakra, even when they're not in use, which is why you can't keep them forever unless you place them onto something that can maintain that flow. Even then, touching it up occasionally is a must."

"Can you describe the shapes for me? I can probably figure things out from there."

Neji frowned. "That would be complicated. I could draw them instead."

Naruto agreed enthusiastically as he retrieved a scroll from his jacket; he always had plenty on him. He also unsealed a full set of writing gear from another. "Here, you can use this stuff. I really appreciate this, you know. You won't believe what a week I've had, and to have this kind of assignment on top…"

"You came prepared, at least," Neji observed, glancing at Naruto coolly. "Good. Hold the book for me."

It took nearly twenty-five minutes for Neji to transcribe the three shapes, though he went through the process at considerable speed; the shapes were convoluted and reminded Naruto a little of the ones on his own belly. It was clear the Hyūga's hand-eye coordination was exemplary, and his calligraphy skills well-trained, since every brush stroke was measured and precise.

As Neji raised the paper with the last seal next to the book to make a detailed comparison, disaster struck. Neji saw them first, because of his Byakugan, but the range was clearly not very large yet. Maito Gai, Rock Lee, and Tenten burst into the clearing next to the Hyūga compound as one unit, and froze on the spot as they saw Neji and Naruto.

For a few long moments, nobody moved.

"What unyouthful literature are you reading?" Gai exclaimed with wide eyes. "Has my eternal rival corrupted you so easily?"

"Literature," Naruto repeated, snorting.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Neji said loudly, twitching as he glanced between Gai and Lee, seeming equally offended, and a giggling Tenten. Naruto didn't know how, but he could feel Neji focusing on him with those milky white eyes. The message was clear. Naruto hastily grabbed his stuff, snatching the book and drawing out of Neji's fingers before he left as quickly as his legs could carry him.

"Thank you for reading my book for me!" he called back just before he leapt out of earshot, and he couldn't keep his laugh in after that.

* * *

Gaara was sitting on the roof when Naruto returned home, right next to his own spot; that spot showed clear wear from his shoes and sharp scratches from kunai that weren't properly secured. The boy was leaning back ever so slightly, and his eyes were closed.

Naruto hesitated. "Are you awake?"

"Yes," Gaara answered immediately, his eyes sliding open. "I was unsuccessful."

"You said you didn't like all the hustle and bustle of the town, right? I'll soundproof the room for you tonight, see if that helps. It's weird, you know, trying to help someone figure out how to sleep. I'm pretty sure doing it on the roof isn't going to help."

"I came here to look at the stars," Gaara said shortly.

"It's still hours till dark," Naruto responded. "Aren't you a bit early for that?"

"Thus the reason I attempted to sleep." Gaara replied dryly. "I have spent several hours inside, but there was nothing left to do there, and I am not allowed to go out unsupervised, as yet."

"Did the clones get any further with the seal?" He glanced down. "Where are the clones, anyway?"He blinked. "Oh. Right. They popped themselves when they weren't getting any progress." He frowned. "Well, I'd like to think I wouldn't stab myself when I got a bad run like that, but at least I would heal even if I did…"

"No progress?"

"It's complex. The seal I used on you is limited, of course. It's 'cause it was designed for _my_ seal, not yours. I used to have one for my chakra in general, so I could mask it, and the one I made for the Biju chakra was basically a hackjob of that one. So, now that I've got that as a basis, I'm basically making a seal on top of a perversion of another seal. It's doomed." He sighed. "Unless you are willing to experiment with different designs, you'll have to stick with the current ones and hope that I'll be quick about figuring out a fresh one."

"Can you not go to your teacher, Jiraiya of the Sannin? The one that you impersonated upon our meeting?"

"Ah, yes," Naruto smiled sheepishly. "I will talk to him, but I know for a fact that the kinds of seals I'm dealing with here aren't the type he uses. They're based on _Uzumaki_ sealing methods, which are rare enough in these days that hardly anyone knows them anymore."

"Uzumaki? Your name?" Gaara seemed confused.

"My mother's family," Naruto said with a shrug. "Her line has a long and remarkable history, and an intimate relationship with the Sealing Arts. Anyway, are you fine with this arrangement? That you keep the paper seal until I figure something better?"

"I will survive," Gaara muttered.

"Good. You still have to become Kazekage, and I won't see you croak before that."

Gaara paused. "Become Kazekage…?"

Naruto smirked. "Well, your father's not going to do the job forever, is he?" he asked rhetorically. "With a bit of good will in Konoha, the strongest village of the five, you'll have quite a bit to work from. Especially if you get the Ichibi under control too, and have serious power to fling around. There's already one nation with a jinchūriki as a Kage, why not make it three?" He tapped his belly and smiled. "It would be awesome!"

* * *

"So, there you are." Kakashi cocked his head to the side as he walked up to Naruto, lounging on the bridge that had become almost a traditional gathering point for their little team. "Sasuke hasn't arrived yet?"

"Nope," Naruto responded. "Same with Sakura. I think they finally figured out that you're always late."

Kakashi sighed. "Just when I'm only half an hour late…"

"I'm a clone, you know. The real me is up there." He gestured to the tree, where the edge of an orange vest was just barely visible. "Tiresome day, you know. He figured I could wake him when you arrived."

"Your real self is sleeping?"

"Unless you can snore while you're awake, I would count on it."

"Huh." Kakashi looked up in confusion. "Clones usually dispel when the creator is unconscious. I never thought about it before, but you're different, aren't you?" He walked up and poked the shadow clone on the forehead. "Right; solid clones that stick around when you've fainted. Serious tactical possibilities there."

The clone frowned. "Why are you touching me? I'll leave you with the Boss instead, he can deal with your touchy feely stuff." He turned and yelled his own name in a sharp tone. The real him jumped awake in an instant, and a kunai solidly impaled itself in the clone's forehead before it popped with an expression of surprise. Naruto took a moment to adjust and looked down.

"You're finally here, then? Sorry, I had a terrible night. Figured I could catch up a little." He jumped down easily. "Only one here, huh?"

Kakashi frowned, poking the sleepy boy in the forehead. "Your eyes were all bloodshot at the memorial stone too; I should've figured this out then. You look fatigued. With _those_ people after you, I'd figure you would sleep where you're properly protected, not in a _tree._"

"Gaara's in my home, and he's trying out sleeping. Considering he has pretty much never done that before, I would like to leave him to it. I tried to sleep while he was just pacing around or sitting there staring into the night, but it gave me the creeps, especially with those black-ringed eyes, so I was mostly awake all the time. Besides, there's four ANBU around this clearing right now, keeping an eye out, so I wasn't exactly in danger."

"Four…" Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "You're right, but how do _you_ know that?"

"Two are upwind, so I can smell them," Naruto said easily. "The slightest bit of Kyūbi's chakra is enough for _that._ The other two don't have their chakra suppressed, confident that Genin aren't so good that they might be spotted. There, they heard me, now they're fixing it. 'Course, it's too late to hide now, I can follow them."

"You really were hiding more skills, weren't you? You can just sense _anyone?_" Kakashi wondered.

"I can't sense the best of them, like the Hokage if he's being sneaky," Naruto admitted with a shrug. "I'm not really a Sensor, if that's what you're thinking. I suppose you could say I use a whiff of some special chakra to give me an edge over the average shinobi."

"It's interesting how you worded that."

"Isn't it just?" Naruto smiled. "Sakura's approaching just now. Sasuke's not far behind her, but he's all agitated and antsy today."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow just as the two people in question rounded the corner and walked up to the bridge, Sasuke with his hands in his pockets and a stormy expression on his face. "Okay, that was excellent. How did you do _that_ one?"

Naruto glanced over with a dull stare. "He's _always _agitated and antsy, sensei."

"Sometimes I forget you're a kid…" Kakashi shook his head. "Nice of you to join us, you latecomers. I'm afraid this means that Naruto gets training today, though, which is good, since his little absence puts him behind the two of you a tad."

"Uh, sensei…?"Naruto said, frowning. He had just explained he was considerably beyond his fellow Genin just that morning.

"Before we get to that _private_ training on his Ninjutsu skills, though, there is something I wanted you all to know." He glanced at Naruto meaningfully. "I've managed to get us a C-rank mission at last, though it isn't one that will take us long to accomplish. Team 8 has run into some trouble near the border, and the Hokage has asked us to help out. Any mission like this where multiple teams are required are automatically assigned at least a C-rank, so that was perfect for us."

"Hinata's team requested extra help?" Naruto wondered. "What happened? Did they run into shinobi of another village or something?"

"Details are sketchy, but we received a message via the Aburame clan, who communicated with Shino via his insects. The little creatures are crude in the concepts they can convey, but it was clear that they required help, though it wasn't urgent enough to be for actual distress. Most likely they're dealing with a larger number of bandits. Hopefully my presence alone will drive some of them off."

"Wait till they see the rest of us," Naruto agreed. "We're plenty strong too!"

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," Kakashi agreed lightly. "Hokage-sama was clear that this particular team has some important eyes on it, so it should perform well. Don't disappoint the fans, will you?"

"We won't," Sakura said forcefully. "We'll beat all these bandits into the floor until they're mush!"

Kakashi smiled nervously as Sakura strained her muscles as if ready for one of her megaton-punches. "Right. We're leaving in the morning, so pack for a trip of a week or two. Come, Naruto, we have a few hours until it's dark, and I want to see what you can do."

As Naruto walked after his teacher with a frown, Sasuke followed. Even as they moved through the forest and across three occupied fields, nobody said a word; Kakashi remained silent until they had gone on for at least fifteen minutes, occasionally glancing curiously behind him. Sakura was trailing behind in confusion.

When they reached a largely abandoned training field on the outskirts, Sasuke cleared his throat. "Naruto, is there anyone nearby?"

Naruto frowned, but concentrated for a split second. There was an odd tingling sensation in the air, as if from some odd chakra, then it was gone again. Naruto hiccoughed for a moment and winced. "Nobody but us four, I think. Not for a long ways, at least."

Sasuke grunted, and without hesitation he reached into his jacket to retrieve something. He paused for a moment, and then opened his hand; there was a little black scroll on his palm. "It can only be read with the Sharingan."

Kakashi snatched up the scroll, flipping his hitai-ate up in a moment. The disturbed look in his eyes was clear to all the Genin as his eye swerved over the text inscribed on the scroll. Then his Sharingan met Sasuke's. "When did you receive this?"

"A few hours ago, in the Uchiha district," Sasuke said. "The ANBU Bear brought it to me personally."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "Time to response?"

"Two days."

"Plenty of time," Kakashi muttered, and then smiled. "It's good that you brought it to me, Sasuke. Especially so covertly. I can't believe this could be genuine, but I'll track it down anyway. I might have to do some digging of my own."

"I figured as much," Sasuke agreed, looking askance at Naruto with a frown. "What do we do?"

"Nothing, for now." Kakashi said easily. He slipped the scroll into his pocket. "I will inform you before the time is up, though."

"What exactly is going on here?" Sakura asked as she glanced between Sasuke and Kakashi, focused on the scroll. "What's that black paper?"

"Not important right now. I'm taking it to the Hokage." He summoned a single Shadow Clone and turned back towards his team. "Sasuke and Sakura, you will head back to town immediately. Go somewhere public, preferably, just in case. Naruto, you're going with my clone to train. We won't let this ruin our whole day."

"Sensei…?"

"Those are orders, Sakura. Stick to Sasuke's side and go to the busy part of town." Kakashi smirked suddenly. "You could consider it a date."

Sasuke glanced in horror at Sakura, who suddenly had wide eyes that practically glittered in the sun.

"What was in that scroll, anyway?" Naruto asked distractedly. He had recognized the scroll easily enough, but it made no sense. A black ANBU scroll - the highest rank of orders.

Sasuke looked away and didn't answer.

* * *

**Author's Note: **A boatload of Kakashi, and Naruto going around and doing some things for their own sake, rather than just mostly thinking about what he gets out of them. I gave a little fanonish backstory to a few of Kakashi's odd details in his history, so lemme know what you think. :)**  
**


	15. Suspicions

**Chapter 15 – Suspicions**

Sakura could not suppress a satisfied smile as she headed for the centre of town, glancing behind her to make sure that Sasuke was still following. She was not sure what to think about what had just happened between him and Kakashi-sensei, but right now she did not really care. Finally, _finally,_ she would go out with him! She had waited just about forever for this. Okay, now... focus on not screwing it up.

"Sasuke-kun, where should we go?" she crooned, and winced at her own saccharine tone. That had come out rather more desperate than she had intended, and she figured that trying to make up for it would just look even more so. For a few moments she just breathed, trying to steady herself. Then, she nodded to herself. She was a shinobi, she could do this. "A restaurant, you think?"

Sasuke scoffed. He stared ahead without much of an expression, clearly thinking of anything _but_ the fact that they were supposed to be going anywhere together. Sakura floundered for a moment, wondering what on earth she could say to him that would change that, how she could get him interested in doing something together, now that they were going _somewhere. _In all the years she had chased the Uchiha, she had never really put much thought into what happened when she finally did have a date. Those were details she figured she would come up with on the spot.

"We could get something to eat, right? While we wait for Kakashi-sensei and Naruto to finish whatever they are doing?" She glanced at Sasuke. "There are some places in the centre of town that are plenty busy, so we follow the orders..."

As she led him in that direction, she wondered why being on a team was so very different from what she had expected at first, when she had found out who were on her team. At the time, it had seemed crystal clear how the team would function: Sasuke would be the leader, Naruto the idiot lagging behind as usual, and she would be there for Sasuke's support. It made sense; that was how it had worked at the academy.

The bell test was really the first thing that made it clear that things were _different _than her expectations, and quite a lot at that_._ Instead of Sasuke taking on the leader's role as she expected, it had been _Naruto _that gathered them all together. He led the team into forming a plan to take Kakashi-sensei down, seemingly without any difficulty, and she was still baffled by that. Things had gotten even weirder afterwards, with Naruto working on what seemed to be very powerful sealing techniques, and helping Sasuke to gain the Sharingan as well.

Sasuke and Naruto had never gotten along in the academy, that she knew. Naruto was loud, Sasuke was silent, and they tended to get into pretty nasty fights, ones that were usually won by the Uchiha, on account of his superior training. Now, though, things had changed, and very quickly. Only weeks ago, Sasuke had been perpetually disinterested in Naruto, or anyone else for that matter. Then, over the course of mere days, it seemed like something changed there. Whether it was Sasuke finally acknowledging Naruto as having some skills, or Naruto reaching out to Sasuke, there was some kind of connection there that she did not understand. They still insulted each other, but there was no venom behind it anymore; it was like a little joke they shared with each other. They fought and even trained together, and that actually seemed to work as well, something she could never have imagined in the academy.

In short, they were becoming actual _friends_.

Of course, as soon as she had realized that they were no longer the belligerent enemies from the academy days, and had grown up a little, her own role seemed to shrink. She was the outsider here. Although she had known both Sasuke and Naruto well enough in the academy, she had realized quickly that she was the pointless addition to the group, not Naruto, because her practical skills were abysmal compared to theirs. Naruto was surprisingly quick and strong, had some very powerful jutsu, _and _knew a lot about Sealing, something she had barely even heard about before. Sasuke was, of course, well-trained in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. That left her; barely able to do the academy techniques, and little else.

She seemed to be a kunoichi without any significant skills, not even worthy of being support for Sasuke or the inexplicably gifted Naruto; it had been a discouraging thought. Though Naruto in particular seemed to think her chakra control was something she should be proud of, it only reminded her that the boys had a far, far greater capacity, and she would never get anywhere close to their amazing techniques. She had considered, for a while at least, asking for someone else to take her place on the team.

Then there had been that surreal moment with Kakashi and Naruto's clone. Quite spontaneously the duplicate Naruto had decided to try and ask her out again. He had not done that since the academy, and she had reacted as she always did, without thinking about it. It was natural to lash out, and Naruto could take the beating easily enough. Of course, she had not figured out that it was deliberate until Kakashi-sensei had shown an interest in her technique, and she was forced to admit she had no idea what he was talking about when it came to Taijutsu. She just punched.

As it turned out, she had been doing something peculiar with her attacks, something generally limited to Taijutsu specialists. Channelling chakra into one's hits was at the core of many styles, but Kakashi seemed to believe she was doing something extra, and dragged her along to a bizarre man with an even stranger hairstyle, wearing a full-body green jumpsuit. Maito Gai, it seemed, was the Hidden Leaf's most powerful Taijutsu fighter, and specialized in the use of techniques that did extreme damage to the enemy.

Maito Gai, in a brief moment of contemplative seriousness in between enthusiastic proclamations of her youth, had concluded that she had natural talent for certain Taijutsu styles. The Sannin Tsunade's name quickly came up, and Sakura had to work really hard not to preen under the compliments from the green-clad creep. Kakashi-sensei, for his part, seemed to be largely unsurprised by the revelation.

Sakura was definitely surprised: Taijutsu was probably the last specialty she had imagined for herself. She was one of the best kunoichi when it came to theory, having graduated at the top of the class on those tests, and logically the connection to the mental ninja arts was easily made from there. Kurenai-sensei, for example, had also finished with high theory scores and was now considered a Genjutsu specialist. Sakura's Taijutsu scores in the academy were lacklustre; she had never really cared for the lessons, beyond knowing how to land a good punch.

Taijutsu and medical techniques. She remembered Naruto's description of what she might be good at, and at the time she had tossed those suggestions aside. Now, she was reconsidering. She had excellent chakra control, a prerequisite for medical techniques, and he had already been right about the hand-to-hand. What if she really could be the next Tsunade? She could be the support ninja for the team that she hoped to be in the first place, and still kick ass when she needed to. Besides, Ino would _never_ expect a full-on physical assault!

Sasuke glanced at her sideways with a curious expression. "Why are you angry?"

Sakura glanced aside with a startled expression, and realized she had balled her fists when imagining taking Ino down in a single blow. "Ah... I was just thinking of beating someone up," she admitted, blushing.

The Uchiha snorted. "Go hit Naruto, if you want to do that. He can take a hit."

Sakura smiled slightly. "I was thinking about our team, and how weird everything is. It's not like how I imagined it, you know. Not even you, actually." She paused, her mind returning again to that blond dolt. "I was wondering... does something seem off about Naruto, to you? I keep wondering what is wrong with him, but he looks at me with these odd expressions and I can't voice it. It's like he sees someone else."

"Like he knows exactly who you are. Uncomfortably so, even." Sasuke grimaced. "Yes, I have seen that. In the hospital... he was completely serious when he spoke to me."

"And there's also all the jutsu and seals and such that he's throwing around," she replied. "You know that he's weirdly good at that stuff, right? Like, better than he ever showed at the academy, by miles?"

Sasuke grunted.

"It might be a silly idea, but do you think he was _acting_ that whole time? Because he can't have gotten that much better in a short while, and Kakashi-sensei certainly isn't going to spend extra time with him like that. His other new teacher, for the seals, only arrived so recently..."

"Of course he was acting," Sasuke responded after a long moment. "You didn't see him out there, when he helped to activate my Sharingan." He grimaced. "That... he was something _else._ It was like he could turn his hate on with a switch. It was unnatural."

"So... he's not a Genin, you think? We certainly didn't learn that..."

"No," Sasuke agreed. "He's not. Whatever he is, though... clearly Kakashi-sensei is not freaking out about it, which probably means he knows what's going on."

Sakura nodded, shivering slightly. "It's like Naruto's got our whole future planned out or us, if you hear him talk sometimes. I mean, that whole speech about being the next Sannin, or saying you'll be better than Kakashi... It's eerie. It's like he looks at people and can see how they will be, instead of what they are now."

Sasuke shook his head. "There is... one thing, that could explain his unusual skills, and perhaps even why he is assigned to this team." He looked up with shadowed eyes. "He could be like my brother."

Sakura frowned. "Your _brother_?"

Sasuke didn't meet her eyes, staring furiously at the ground. "Uchiha Itachi. The one responsible for my family's massacre, and the one I have sworn to kill. Before, when he still worked for the village, he was different. He was a child prodigy, so he started at a early age, like our teacher. He was ANBU."

* * *

Kakashi dropped his act the moment that Sakura and Sasuke had left. He turned to Naruto with a grim look of determination. "I take it that you picked up on what just happened with your broody teammate. The scroll that Sasuke brought me is a bit _different._"

"They're ANBU orders, highest rank," Naruto said immediately. He wondered briefly if he should have known that; technically that was knowledge only available to the ANBU themselves, and he had not been one in this time period. If Kakashi asked, he would admit that he had read it in classified files; he would probably get a reprimand for it, now that he no longer had the clearance. "It's about me, then?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I can speculate on the reasons, but _someone_ is way too interested in what you're up to. They're nervous enough to ask Sasuke to spy on you; presumably they were aware that the Uchiha has had a long-standing rivalry with you, in your academy years. Clearly, though, the sender of this scroll underestimated Sasuke's loyalty to the village or to you in particular." He smiled. "Interesting, don't you think? Sasuke seems to respect you."

Naruto did not respond to the little jab. He knew that Kakashi probably figured out he was laying it on a bit thick with the Uchiha, to get into his good graces. At least it seemed to be working. "I take it that he was offered power in exchange? I can't really imagine what else pink-eye might want."

Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Correct. He was offered training for his Sharingan."

"Figures," Naruto kicked a rock away idly. "Those aren't ANBU orders at all, are they? Or you suspect they're not, anyway. Sasuke would know about black scrolls like that since Itachi knew about them, and probably received one or two near the end." He ignored the intense look that he got for that little comment. "Perhaps the offer of training is genuine, though. There are some who would be interested in Sasuke, I'm sure."

"They probably counted on him assuming it was genuine, at least," Kakashi agreed. "Whoever's responsible waited until Sasuke was alone to deliver it, so nobody could get suspicious. Normally speaking such orders are delivered discreetly, so that fits."

Naruto grunted in agreement. "So it's quite possible that someone's using fake scrolls to con him into spying on me. There are not many who would be that brave in this village, to risk the ire of the Hokage, especially when the risk of failure is so great."

"It could also be a test of Sasuke's loyalties," Kakashi offered.

"Or it was Danzō." Naruto turned away sharply, pacing along the clearing. Kakashi looked after him with an expression that sent chills down Naruto's back. He had to have figured _something _out, but Naruto was not sure what it was. The occasional odd glances he got seemed downright compassionate or sad, though. He tried to ignore the eerie sensation.

"You are well-informed, I admit. The Hokage will certainly be informed of the possibility, given that it is my real self that is delivering the scroll."

"The bandage-freak is probably kicking himself for missing my potential," Naruto murmured. "Most likely he discovered that I helped activate Sasuke's Sharingan, which is why he put a seal on the scroll to block out normal sight. Perhaps he figured out that I can control the Kyūbi's chakra."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You don't sound surprised. You were expecting this?"

"For a while, yeah," Naruto agreed. "Shimura Danzō is a slippery one. Can't say I've had the dubious pleasure of meeting him recently, but I expected him to stick his nose into my things eventually. It does seem a bit simplistic for his doing, to try and get Sasuke to betray me so shortly after the Sharingan's activation. He must have realized that his time was running out, that Sasuke was getting closer to his team, and further away from his grubby hands."

"You _are_ pretty close, aren't you?" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Honestly, you're making me look good, which is a new thing. The other Jōnin thought I'd never pass a Genin group, ever, but now it turns out you're pretty much the only group that doesn't have any real strife. Even the Ino-Shika-Chō trio have _some_ issues..."

"Sasuke and I fight all the time, and Sakura likes to punch me," Naruto complained. "Why does that not count?"

Kakashi smiled, turning to the centre of the clearing. "The Hokage did tell me that you were a bit odd, but clearly even he underestimated just how much. I've noticed that you're the one keeping the team from getting broken up, you know. You keep Sasuke busy by giving him a good challenge, and you give Sakura a way to feel part of the group as well. Clever, clever. Perhaps you're even manipulating me? Let's see the real you, please. No acting."

Naruto forced himself to stay calm, looking at his teacher with a lazy expression that usually belonged on the Jōnin's face. Really, he should not be so nervous. He had brought this on himself at the monument, by telling some part of the truth; Kakashi knew more than anyone, and he probably had some theories of his own. At least he could trust Kakashi, unlike so many others. "Very well," he said at last, reluctantly ditching all the faked emotions or expressions, and looking at the man like he was once more an ANBU captain talking to the Hokage. "No more Genin, then. Even if I technically am one."

"_Technically_," Kakashi muttered caustically. "I was technically a kid, when I got onto my Genin team, led by your father. I was a Chūnin already, and powerful. What else to expect from the son of the White Fang? Of course I was bound to be peculiar; it was in the blood."

Naruto smiled thinly. "I suppose we have something in common, there."

Kakashi returned the smile with one of his own. "More than a few things, I think. I didn't know why you were placed on my team, when it was first announced. I figured it was because I was your father's student, actually. Now, at last, I see." He raised his hitai-ate, exposing his Sharingan eye. "You're exactly like I used to be."

Naruto tensed involuntarily under the red stare of that eye, ready to jump away at any moment to avoid its gaze. He had been looked at with those eyes by too many people to be comfortable with the bloodline, even if he knew that none of the really nasty users were around right now. Almost unwittingly he called on a little of Kurama's chakra, an edge of power to augment his senses, his muscles. "So, what does that mean for the team?"

Kakashi smirked as he took a Taijutsu stance with elegant ease. "Tomorrow morning we will leave on our C-rank mission, you know that much already. There is however something that I haven't told you yet. I'm putting you in charge."

Naruto blinked. "Isn't that a little quick? We haven't even had a C-rank yet."

"It's unorthodox, but I think that it'll be a learning experience for us both," Kakashi said easily. "I want to see your practical skills, but I don't believe you were lying about those in any significant way. What I really need to see in practice is your ability to lead a squad, one of the requirements for becoming a Chūnin."

"Already thinking about that, huh?" Naruto noted, slowly putting a step sideways as Kakashi did the same in the other direction. "Trying to impress the other Jōnin by beating them to the punch, maybe? Don't you think you should wait until the Exams, at least? They are not that far away."

Kakashi shrugged. "Sakura and Sasuke have quite a bit of work to do before they reach that level. Not as much as some other Genin of your year, but neither is quite as well-rounded as they need to be. I would have said that Sasuke was closest to Chūnin level, before I realized how much I had missed about _you._" He grabbed a kunai, flicking it into the air and catching it by the handle in a single movement. "Dodge."

Naruto's survival instincts flared up alongside his chakra and he ducked before the kunai had fully left Kakashi's hand, his heart suddenly hammering in his throat as it seemed everything slowed down. The whistle of metal travelling through the air lasted for a mere moment before the metal projectile thudded solidly into a tree behind him.

The assault was not over; Naruto managed to keep himself from flinching as a second kunai whisked by his face, at a distance of a mere inch. As he watched it pass, as if time had slowed down to a crawl, he realized he could have avoided it, but it was not necessary at all. It only managed to snag a few blond hairs on its way through.

Before Kakashi's next attack could land, Naruto moved. A kunai appeared in his hand and he slashed it sideways before him, knocking the third kunai off course and into the bushes with a shower of sparks.

"Good," Kakashi said calmly as he straightened. "No hits at all, eh?" He slowly circled Naruto, who mimicked the movement, his kunai still before him. "You clearly have good speed for your age, which is definitely a plus. About a Chūnin's level, as you said."

"Do I have to throw knives at you, now?"

Kakashi held up his hands. "No, no, I've seen that you're accurate enough with those things when training with the team. You're fine on accuracy. If you ever figure out your father's prize technique, I'll revisit that particular skill; you're serviceable enough for basic uses." He paused. "How _did_ you train to get that quick, by the way? Most kids your age don't have the body for it, and you don't seem particularly lean."

Naruto sighed. "Everyone seems to think I'm chubby under this vest. It's just bulky fabric, damn it!" He rubbed the back of his head and tried to smile. "Actually, I got pretty quick from the kind of stuff I did as a kid. You know what I mean, right? Doing pranks all across town, and then making a quick getaway? It did wonders for my balance, plus I got good enough to hop from roof to roof without chakra. Speed's just a natural consequence."

"Ah, right…" Kakashi smiled sheepishly. "I remember that I was assigned to catch you one time. I sort of lost you in the market street, when you slipped between stalls. Sneaky little devil."

"You were probably just lazy," Naruto muttered derisively.

Kakashi sighed. "Be that as it may, we still have a lot of ground to cover." He rubbed his wrists as he stretched the muscles. "I don't know if you're aware of this, but when I was young, I was a bit of a Taijutsu specialist, though I switched to Ninjutsu later on. I kept up with Maito Gai for quite a while, which is no mean feat, so that should tell you something about my skill level." He took a step forward suddenly, closing the distance that Naruto had made between them as he slowly circled away. "Let's see how far you have come, hmm?"

Naruto saw the kick coming, but he knew he was too slow at present to avoid the hit. He was forced to jerk his arm up to block the assault. Kakashi's foot hit his lower arm with so much power behind it that he skidded backwards and landed squarely on his back; he heard something snap in his arm and for a moment there was only numbness. Then, with a surge of heat, the pain erupted. Biting through the pain, Naruto met the Jōnin's normal eye for a split second; then he retaliated.

The first punch was pitifully weak; Naruto hand glanced off the Jōnin's knee as the latter repositioned, trying to swing his leg away from his student's grasp. The hit was a feint, though; Naruto clasped his elbow around Kakashi's ankle and twisted forcefully. His entire body came off the ground and Kakashi didn't have a choice; he backed off to avoid being hurt. He still rubbed his ankle with a grimace.

"Pretty good counter, though that break looks serious," Kakashi said easily, returning to his previous spot. "Excellent reaction speed against a Jōnin-level attack, though avoiding the hit would probably have been smarter."

Naruto snarled, checking his arm while ignoring the pain that was fighting for attention in his mind. It was difficult to keep focusing on something else, but he had enough experience to know how to do it. This was _nothing_ compared to the kind of wounds that Hidan had delivered only a short time ago. Kakashi had not been lying; his arm was broken. Thankfully, the pain was not too spread out, which meant it was probably a clean break. Kurama's chakra still coursed through his system, flickering at the edge of his consciousness with its mildly corrosive, malevolent edge. With a simple direction of will, like he had done at the hospital, he forced it to heal him as quickly as it could, diverting it from the rest of his body. He would need two minutes, before he had his arm back; he had to keep Kakashi talking.

"You kick like a girl," he drawled, and immediately he winced. He probably should not have said that, even if it was true. The future's Sakura had broken more than a few of his bones in spars, and usually healed them up afterwards. Her hits, if anything, were stronger than Kakashi's.

"I will take you to the hospital in a minute," Kakashi said, though he did not sound apologetic. "You heal quickly enough that you'll be ready for the mission tomorrow morning. Chūnin-level strength and speed seem accurate, with that little display just now. Granted, you're probably on the high end with speed. That last hit was about as quick as I get without calling on some serious Ninjutsu as well."

"Liar," Naruto said easily. "I have seen Maito Gai fight. He can go two or three times as fast as you just did, if he really wants to, even without Ninjutsu. Since you say you can keep up with him..."

Kakashi smiled sheepishly. "That man doesn't know when to limit himself... and it's been quite a while since we really had a fight. I don't know if he's quicker these days."

"I can go faster than just now too," Naruto said. "I could be a _lot _faster, under the right conditions. Maybe, when I get that under control, we can test our full speed against each other, without holding back at all. I think you'll be impressed."

"I will believe that when I see it." He paused. "Or don't, I suppose. If you're quick enough to beat me in a fight, you probably won't have much of a problem getting a Jōnin license."

Naruto smiled. "I'll hold you to that." He focused the remainder of Kurama's chakra into his legs and his wounded arm, as he realized the broken bone had stopped sucking in chakra. He would only get one shot at this.

Without a warning, he stormed forward; he could tell that Kakashi had been expecting the attack, had been prepared for the inevitable counterattack. His arm came up to block a punch, and he only barely survived as a devastating blow glanced by just half an inch from his face. If that had been even a little closer…

"You hit me with your broken arm?" Kakashi asked after a moment, as he backed off. "That was a close one. You remembered I was a clone at the last moment, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I figured you wouldn't like having to send more copies this way." He smiled as he showed off his arm, ready for combat again. "I did learn how to use the Kyūbi's chakra properly. Its healing can be very quick, especially when mending clean breaks like the one you gave me. In a real fight, you would probably give me a real messy one instead, which would take longer to repair. Though... probably still less than five minutes."

"Remarkable," Kakashi said seriously. "You can use it at will, then, even without really tapping into its instincts?"

"More or less. I was just diverting it all to one location, so you probably saw it gather with your Sharingan. Of course, you would probably assume that it's instinctual." Naruto flexed his arm exaggeratedly. "If I really drew on the chakra as much as I could, wounds would close in seconds, but it would be hell on my body and my chakra system. Besides, with every tail of Kurama's power, I get more and more berserk and uncaring about any damage I might cause."

"Great," Kakashi muttered sarcastically. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Don't hesitate to ask me to use it, though," Naruto said sharply. "A jinchūriki's power is a fantastic way to intimidate and frighten people, and that can be pretty useful on missions. I can always play up the stereotype of the mildly insane monster."

Kakashi sighed. "You say that so easily."

"I am what I am, and everyone already thinks I'm a monster," Naruto muttered. "Don't think I fail to recognize what people say about me in the streets. I'll just have to prove that I can be a lot more than a liability. "

"Fair enough," Kakashi said, focusing his Sharingan eye on his student. "I question the wisdom of what you are doing, but I can understand it somewhat. You have met another like you, I understand. Gaara of Suna, host of the One-Tails. It must be quite the story, how you two met each other, but I can guess why you get along with each other."

"He had it worse than me," Naruto said sullenly, looking away. "Anyway, we're getting off track."

"True; I was testing you. It's been ages since I've done this kind of thing; it's what we do in ANBU, you know, with new recruits. Perhaps you'll have to do it again someday, if you get strong enough. We've already had weapons, speed, strength, Taijutsu… What's next?"

* * *

"Suna is clearly changing its approach," the Hokage stated with a frown as he looked over the map, pacing around his desk as he moved to Jiraiya's side. "With forces gathered in the east and north, there is only one explanation that fits the facts. Orochimaru and Suna are already in armed conflict, and they're keeping it very quiet."

Jiraiya peered at the map with a keen eye. "They don't want to seem weak, I take it. They will probably fend off his forces until they're overwhelmed, and_ then_ ask their allies for help," he said. "What is this all about, you think? First the Kazekage informs us of Orochimaru's activities and invites his ire, then they pawn off their jinchūriki to a neighbouring country. Yet, while we expected the attacks to move towards Konoha, Orochimaru seems fine with attacking Suna instead. A diversion, maybe?"

Hiruzen scoffed. "With almost a thousand shinobi, Jiraiya? Orochimaru's army cannot be so great that he would field such numbers without a second thought. Even if it is only a fraction of his entire force, this is far more than a border skirmish. If it is a diversion, I shudder to think what he intends."

"It is an interesting scenario," Danzō commented, gazing over the map with a sharp eye. He glanced between the Hokage and Jiraiya. "Konoha should not get involved if we are not requested to do so. The village should prepare to counter any attack that might be directed at us. We must not risk our defences by sending our forces far away."

Hiruzen nodded idly as he sunk back in his chair. It was strange, really, seeing Jiraiya and Danzō sitting side by side, without overt antagonism. Danzō was not an easy man to get along with, and Jiraiya had never been a fan of his, but at least they had a common goal.

Shimura Danzō had changed greatly over his long life, and Hiruzen thought back to the distant past, when the old man before him had been a hot-headed boy with a drive to prove himself, part of the same squad as his own under the Second Hokage. Though his emotions had long taken a backseat to his reason, Hiruzen was convinced that much of that boy still remained to this day, and that it was why Danzō was so passionate about protecting the village, even if he would always stand in the shadows. Perhaps he even preferred it that way.

"What of the jinchūriki?" Danzō asked after a long silence. "With both the One-Tails and Nine-Tails in the possession of Konoha, we are now armed as well as any other country, if not more so. We could use such power on the battlefield, to show Konoha's power."

"The jinchūriki are young," Jiraiya argued. "Others are a lot better trained. For example, I know that the Eight-Tails host can manifest his creature's entire body. Naruto is still too young to channel more than a fraction, and Gaara-san's seal is compromised. For the moment, they cannot be considered as genuine weapons, even if they were to agree with your proposal."

"Relying on Naruto to win our wars should hardly be considered a plan in any case," Hiruzen said sternly. "He is only a Genin, at present. No, we must consider alternative ways to boost our defences. The Border Patrol forces will be bolstered with a large number of Chūnin that have been promoted over the last two or three years. Depending on how well the rookies perform, they too will be enlisted for that duty."

"You may claim that the Kyūbi host is not ready," Danzō observed. "He is, however, part of a very powerful team. Hatake Kakashi _and _Uchiha Sasuke are within it, alongside the jinchūriki, which would make it a severely combat-oriented group, even if there were no was looming, Hiruzen. All they require is a Medical-Nin, and I hear that this Haruno girl is quite adept at chakra control..."

Jiraiya scowled. "I don't care for your insinuations, Danzō. The team was determined alongside all the others."

"I did not intentionally create such a team," Hiruzen said. "However, one cannot always predict which teams will stand out. Must I remind you of the beginnings of the Sannin, Jiraiya? They were… less than stellar, if I recall."

Jiraiya grumbled something unintelligible. "Can we return to the important things? What do we do in case of an assault?"

"The ANBU will take stock of any foreign threats, and inform me immediately," Hiruzen said. "Jōnin have been divided into groups, as well as Chūnin under them. If something happens, we can be ready to counterattack within several minutes. The Barrier Corps has been strengthened with several more people, to make their observations even more precise."

"Very well." Danzō rose slowly. "I will see to it that the village is brought to readiness. It will likely not come to war, but we shall be ready either way." He looked towards Jiraiya. "I will expect a full report on what improvements you believe can be made to the Fūinjutsu protections of the village. If you wish, you can enlist your student as well. It would be interesting to see how good he is."

The door to the Hokage's room slammed open before Jiraiya could answer, and Kakashi stepped in. He froze when he found Danzō right there in front of him. Clasped tightly in his hand was a small black scroll.

Danzō actually smiled thinly as he noticed the black scroll. He turned back to Hiruzen momentarily. "I will speak to you when I have completed preparations. It seems you have other matters to tend to."

Hiruzen seemed unsurprised by the whole affair, and Kakashi narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

When Danzō had vanished, Kakashi finally breathed normally again. "Okay… can anyone explain what _that_ was all about?"

* * *

The world wavered, the trees vanishing from around him as a featureless plane stretched out in all directions, filled with comfortable warmth that wafted over Naruto like a spring breeze, and there was a slight scent of lavender. Naruto stared for a long moment, basking in the heat, when his mind suddenly protested violently against the vision. Something was wrong, horribly off. His instincts, honed over many years, told him something was amiss, and he reacted. _Genjutsu! _Without even thinking about it further, he stabbed himself in the leg with his kunai.

The world surged back into existence around him, the warmth and lavender scent vanishing instantly, replaced by the less palatable scents of the real world. Naruto shivered a moment, almost feeling regretful for breaking the Genjutsu. Before he could fully think that through, he swerved aside almost automatically; Kakashi's fist just barely missed his face. It was not nearly as quick as earlier, and Naruto let out a slight sigh of relief as he flipped backwards away from the Jōnin.

"That was quicker than I expected," Kakashi admitted immediately. "Crude method to break that illusion, but it worked."

"I can heal quickly enough to make it a good option," Naruto argued. "The alternative works, but it takes too long, I think."

"There are instances in which pain will not be so effective," Kakashi warned.

Naruto tried to recall his lessons about Genjutsu. He had never cared much about the topic, so it had been a while. As he contemplated his lessons, he studied Kakashi, and blanched.

"Hey, why…" The conclusion came swiftly, and Naruto cut himself off. He brought his hands together in an instant, forcing chakra to concentrate. "_Kai!"_

The world popped once more, shifting only ever so slightly. He was lying on his back, staring into the sky with a little confusion. Kakashi stood over him with an amused expression, twirling a kunai around his finger idly. "Looks like that needs some more work, huh?"

Naruto sighed laboriously as he got up, dusting off his vest. "Two layers, then? You must have figured out what I was going to do. How did you do that?"

Kakashi smiled. "Don't assume your own tactics to be so obscure that nobody else can figure them out," he said. "Your method of breaking the illusion was a logical progression from your healing ability, and I assumed you were going to use it. A bi-layered Genjutsu is very useful like this; the first one seems simple and weak, which makes a shinobi overconfident, so they miss the second layer. The first is abstract, the second is realistic. Some people go even deeper than two levels, but that's mostly for specialists like Kurenai, Team 8's sensei."

Naruto grimaced. "How did you make it so that pain didn't break the jutsu? Usually that works well enough for me…"

"Did you really stab yourself?" He gestured down to Naruto's leg. "You supposedly hurt yourself with a kunai, but I am holding the one you had earlier, and you have no wound at all, nor even a hole in your pants. The stabbing and pain itself were part of the technique. This is the risk with the quick but painful way to break Genjutsu like this; the really difficult and dangerous Genjutsu techniques take it into account."

"Guess I'll have to train the speed of breaking Genjutsu again," Naruto murmured in annoyance. Then he blinked. "Wait, did you say difficult and dangerous? What rank was that Genjutsu?"

"B-rank, give or take," Kakashi admitted. "It's impressive you beat it so quickly, even if it was too slow to stop me from finishing you off in any real fight." He paused. "What gave the second layer away? I thought I had copied the environment nearly perfectly, and the differences would have been hard to spot with the little moment of blankness in between to cover up any inaccuracies." Kakashi looked slightly embarrassed. "Genin don't usually catch these at all..."

Naruto chuckled. "It was your eye, actually. You had the Sharingan on the wrong side of your face."

Kakashi stared for a long moment, eyes wide. Then he ran a hand through his mop of grey hair and cursed silently. "Damn traitorous mirrors." He shook his head. "Right, you're pretty much at Chūnin-level Genjutsu breaking, though you need to work on your detection, so you don't need mistakes like that to detect them. You clearly don't have enough experience with the real thing to detect the chakra disturbance."

"Or I'm out of practice," Naruto murmured to himself. It had been years since he fought a Genjutsu user; most were Ninjutsu specialist like himself, since people were all too aware that he could decimate a small army if he did not have a strong enemy. Usually he just stabbed himself until the annoyance of Genjutsu went away, and then stabbed whoever was trying to put him under. He could take more stabbing than anyone.

"Well, with that we have the boring stuff out of the way," Kakashi exclaimed happily. "Ninjutsu! Always my favourite." He raised his hand and _Chidori_ burst to life within moments. "Here's a little scenario for you. What would you use to counter this attack?"

Naruto paused. That was a good question, actually. He could have gone for Rasengan as the easy answer, since he had actually used it against that exact technique. Still, he remembered well the level of destruction left behind by those clashes of chakra against chakra, and just how beaten-up he was half the time. It was a brute-force solution, not a very elegant one. He could of course name any of its advanced forms, like the Rasenshuriken, which would overpower it. That was essentially cheating, and he could not demonstrate the latter technique without Sage Mode. That left him with a vast array of elemental techniques, most of which he had never tried in this time period.

He gathered his theoretical knowledge on elemental techniques, one of the few subjects he had actually learned quite a lot about from Kakashi himself, in another age. "Lightning natured attacks are weak against Wind, which is my element," he started. "Considering your lightning attack is a speed-based one that basically skewers the opponent, I would put up the strongest point defence jutsu I could, of the Wind element." He focused momentarily as he tried to recall a good technique that fit those characteristics. He flipped through hand seals quickly. "_Fūton: Shahei Kabe!"_

A furious blast of wind erupted from Naruto's hand for a split second as he held it out before him; a hexagonal part of the sky seemed to ripple before him before it went still, and the air was empty again, though he could sense the layer of chakra in the air, humming softly in the breeze. It was nearly invisible. Kakashi looked on with interest as he reached out tentatively with the hand that was not keeping _Chidori_ active, apparently to check the strength of the shield technique.

"Don't touch," Naruto warned. "It'll shred anything."

Kakashi retracted his hand; then he struck. _Chidori_ smashed into the shield with incredible ferocity, lightning bolts racing across the surface of the wind shield and curling themselves around the edges. For a moment it seemed like the whole thing glowed. Kakashi's attack stopped quite abruptly, and there was a soft thud as air raced in to fill the void left by the intense technique. "Stronger than I thought," the Jōnin said, waving his hand and wincing. "That's a powerful barrier technique you have there."

Naruto shrugged. "It's a C-rank Fūton jutsu. Of course, I'm probably the only one who can make it block pretty much anything. Usually it's to divert water techniques, and not very well, but I have so much chakra it's basically impervious. I'm pretty sure it would even take a fire technique or two, though I wouldn't risk it." He dropped his hand, and the shield vanished. "I also need to stand still to make it work. Oddly enough, that's sometimes a viable strategy. Gaara might like the technique, if he can manage this element."

"I came for a little more than a C-rank," Kakashi drawled. "Even if it is an overpowered one."

"Be careful what you wish for," Naruto said easily. "_Fūton: Kaibutsu Nakigoe_!" Kakashi's eyes widened as he grasped at his ears, and he jumped away in a hurry, his coordination poor at best as he nearly ran into a tree on the way. He was less than graceful as he suddenly stopped and sat down in relief, about twenty meters away.

"What… the hell?"

Naruto grinned; he knew what that technique felt like far too well. Kakashi had taught it to him, in the future. Of course, he had taught it by using it on him. Wind had many uses, but usually the jutsu focused on its cutting and slicing properties, or on causing mass destruction. Few people remembered that it was the air that allowed sound and pressure waves to travel, and that Wind nature could also influence those aspects of the air, to an extent. This particular technique generated pressure waves that reverberated within the skull and ears of a victim, messing up their sense of balance and their thinking. It was extremely effective on the battlefield, and as a consequence it was A-ranked.

"Never do that again," Kakashi said haggardly as he rubbed his ears. "I'm still hearing the beeping!"

"It's a stealth technique, sensei," Naruto said with some amusement. "There is no audible frequency at all. Actually, usually the victim's vocal chords give out for a while too, so they can't scream for help. Ideal for assassination, as you can just wander up to the stunned enemy and cut their throat."

"Where did you learn it?" Kakashi asked, rubbing his poor ears.

That was hard to answer, really. Technically, Kakashi would go on to invent it in about ten years, give or take. It had been the first in a slew of new jutsu that Naruto had come up with in the past, or future. "I sort of came up with it myself."

Kakashi's intense look was back. "You invented an assassination technique?" He shook his head suddenly, smiling wryly. "I had Chidori, you have this. I should have guessed."

"Assassination was just an example, though. It's basically a disabling technique," Naruto argued. "It uses way too much chakra for most people to pull off, anyway. Besides, how many Wind element users do we have around here?" He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I thought it would come in handy."

"So, you have _that_ technique, multiple elemental techniques, as well as the _Rasengan._ I see that you weren't joking about the Jōnin-level jutsu, and now I'm getting really suspicious on who's been teaching you these things! You could probably beat half the current Chūnin with that kind of firepower, considering your _Kage Bunshin_ technique is available to you as well."

Naruto smiled devilishly. "Ah, but you haven't seen the best stuff!" He raised his hand again, holding the other besides it. "_Rasengan._"

"Yes, I know about that one…"

Naruto grinned wider as he used his second hand to manipulate the attack, and the Rasengan began humming as wisps of white chakra seared through it. Wind-natured chakra suffused the sphere of chakra in moments, leaving a sharply humming ball that promised destruction to everything it touched.

Kakashi watched with wide eyes. "You… completed it? Impossible!"

In lieu of an answer, Naruto turned to the nearest tree and hit it. "_Fūton: Rasengan_!" With a thunderous explosion the entire lower half of the tree disintegrated as the attack unleashed itself, cutting wildly around in all directions, except directly backwards. He had enough control to prevent the destructive effects on his own body, though he was still screwed with the Rasenshuriken. The wind quickly died down and all that was left was a pile of rubble and falling debris.

"That's…"

"Instant death," Naruto finished for him. "Not even the Rasengan can promise that. If I hit someone with this, and they're not protected by some crazy kekkei genkai or technique, they're dying. Period. This is an S-rank jutsu, and it's not even at its strongest."

"It's _not?_" Kakashi sounded positively shocked now. "Naruto, its one thing to learn the Rasengan, since there are some people who know it. But it's imperative I know who is teaching enhanced versions like this. The only person who I can see developing _that_ is..." He looked at Naruto and his jaw slackened. "No, that's ridiculous."

Naruto sighed. "I don't want to lie to you, Kakashi-sensei, but you can't tell anyone about this. Not yet."

"Naruto..."

"I told you. It's dangerous." He shook his head. "Most of my techniques, I learned through application of the _Kage Bunshin. _I can make more than just about anyone, and they help tremendously with Ninjutsu training. Training in the use of the Wind element only took a short time to figure out with so many focusing on the same problem."

"I know you were aware of your father, but this is ridiculous. You're _surpassing _his technique?" Kakashi shook his head. "He never finished that technique during his life; the Rasengan's elemental version was always just out of reach for him. With a few more years he probably would have gotten it, but fate intervened. How...?" He glanced up. "Minato-sensei is dead, right? _Right?_"

Naruto flinched. "Yes... he is." He rubbed his stomach uncomfortably, well aware that the Fourth would be listening in, or some remnant of him. He really should get around to figuring out how to preserve that chakra. Kakashi stared at his gesture and some gleam appeared in the man's eyes that Naruto really didn't like. After a moment he glanced away with a fake expression meant to mimic lazy acceptance. Naruto wasn't buying it.

"Of course he is," Kakashi said, though his voice wavered slightly. "You probably know that I was asked to assess how good you were, on the Hokage's behalf."

"I figured."

"I will have to tell him about your _Rasengan,_" Kakashi pointed out. "He will want to know the answer to how you learned that."

Naruto grimaced. "I will save _that_ until after the C-rank."

Kakashi nodded carefully. "You... mentioned that you can take the Rasengan even further?"

"I can make it stronger, but only at high cost to myself." Naruto grimaced. "I have the chakra, but not the control. I'd cut myself up. Given that this attack is fine-weave enough to cut apart a chakra system from the inside, the technique would probably ruin my entire arm in one or two shots, even with Tsunade of the Sannin around. It's basically a suicide move."

"So, how do you know you can do it?"

Naruto stared at Kakashi. "I have the Kyūbi's chakra available to me, sensei. I was just using my own right now; pouring in that stuff supercharges _everything._ It's the advantage and the curse of any jinchūriki. It is my ace in the hole, should I ever need it."

"Let's hope you don't." Kakashi shook his head. "I trust that you have more A-rank or higher techniques?"

"A few."

"If I could excuse a field promotion without a proper mission, you would already have it." Kakashi shook his head with a slight smile, though Naruto didn't miss the continued wariness that he showed. Probably it was in part because some of these Ninjutsu were like weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a kid. "Tomorrow you will be squad leader, and I'll follow your lead. That remains the same. I will try to make it clear that everyone gets a shot at it, so the others don't feel like they're disadvantaged. I expect an exemplary performance."

"Understood." Naruto said. "The team would understand this sort of thing, anyway. They're not stupid. By the way, since I'm team leader, here's my first order. Be on time."

"Ah…" Kakashi winced. "A direct order, huh?"

"Don't be late, or I'll arrange a suitable punishment with the Hokage. He will probably listen to me." Naruto smiled. "How about cleaning out the men's side of the public baths, while they're still in use? Preferably by Maito Gai?"

Kakashi's eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't!"

Naruto grinned broadly. "Fine, you'll be banned from reading Icha Icha for the duration of the mission instead. How does that sound?"

"Monster."

* * *

Naruto landed lightly on the roof, catching himself easily as he dropped down. The sun had finally gone down, which gave him maybe an hour or two before he would need to get packing for the next day's C-rank, and catch some sleep.

The apartment was dark, too dark. Tensing up involuntarily, Naruto made his way into the window as silently as he could, relying on his experience with stealth to duck into the darkest parts of the room, using moonlight to give him a basic layout of his home. Was someone here?

Then, he heard it. It was soft and muted by the walls, but it was unmistakable. Snoring.

"I'll be damned," Naruto muttered. "He actually did it."

Gaara was stretched out on Naruto's bed, the only one in the house. For the first time that Naruto could remember, the boy actually seemed to be at peace, his dark-ringed eyes closed without seeming forced to be like that, as they usually did. A small booklet was still loosely hanging in one hand; a history of Konoha that he kept in his drawer, a gift from the Hokage from a few years earlier. It was the first place, besides the monument, that he had ever seen a picture of his dad, even if he did not know it at the time.

It was strange to think that even in the future he had come from, finding Gaara asleep was effectively impossible. Even if he did sleep at times, he was alert enough even while unconscious to react to anyone coming close; he would be awake instantly, with no transition period whatsoever. He was the Kazekage, of course, so it was not a huge surprise; without Shukaku interfering his thoughts, he had only gotten better at controlling his abilities. As far as he could recall, this was the first time he had seen his fellow jinchūriki completely helpless.

"I'll keep you safe," Naruto promised, smiling wryly. The last time around, he had saved Gaara, but not until he had already died and had his Tailed Beast removed. He did not intend to let that happen this time around. If he could help it, _all_ the jinchūriki would survive.

Slowly he retreated from the room; Gaara's breathing did not hitch for a moment. He closed the door very slowly and made his way to the couch; he could make do for a night. He had something to do, anyway.

Tomorrow morning he would go on a C-rank, which meant that if he was going to finish Pervy Sage's assignment, it had to be today. He had been a bit busy with other things to spend much time on it, but he had probably gathered all the pieces. The little book still looked innocuous, but the three intricate seals that Neji had drawn for him definitely did not.

The first was the simplest; a seal to block him from reading the book. It was no Genjutsu, really; it was just a minor seal that prevented him from remembering what he had seen inside the book. The moment he closed it, the memories vanished. Clever, but very tricky. It was easy to disrupt, and this was probably about the extent that such a jutsu could be used, or there would already be a variation to erase memories entirely. Jiraiya would certainly use _that,_ if it were possible. He put that seal aside for the moment.

The second, unsurprisingly, was the one that prevented Kakashi from accessing the pages. Jagged and pointed as it was, it did not seem like Jiraiya's style, but he had probably used it to make sure that the easy route was blocked off. This seal was essentially the same as the first beyond the target, though it reached the same goal; it also made someone inattentive, which was probably to prevent questions from being asked.

"He was damn clever," Naruto muttered in annoyance. Two out of the three were just there to block the third one.

The third seal was a beauty. Easily twice as complex as the others, the last seal was composed of spiral-shaped parts that interlocked with each other to form a shape not unlike a shuriken, though jagged at the edges. Tracing the lines, Naruto was not sure what to make of it; it definitely did not work like any of the seals he had seen in his books, except one. With some trepidation, he pulled up his vest, and channelled chakra.

The seal that kept the Nine-Tails trapped; there was a spiral shape just like the one in the drawing.

"It's an Uzumaki seal," Naruto realized in surprise. He got up quickly, making his way to his closet and quickly rifling through the small stack of scrolls he kept there, most of them beyond him. There was at least one there… "Gotcha."

Uzumaki Kushina's rather messy handwriting stood out on the edge of the scroll as he quickly unrolled it and put it besides Neji's drawing. The spirals were everywhere, as he remembered; they were a part of practically every seal. Uzumaki Fūinjutsu, a lost art; he probably had some of the last information on that style in his hands here. Right now, there were still scrolls. With a start he realized that they would have been destroyed, forever, in his old time. Nagato's attack had vaporized what remained.

"So, what are you trying to tell me here, Pervy Sage?" Naruto opened the scroll all the way, and there it was. All the way at the bottom of the scroll was the same shape as Jiraiya's seal, identical in every way, except one. Right in the middle was an extra part, different in design, that was not present on his mother's version. A part that made the entire seal work. This was the reason for the test: The first two steps were to see if he could break into the book, the third was to get to this last seal. The moment he had unlocked the functional version in the book, he would be able to replicate it for himself.

"No way," Naruto said to himself. He didn't recognize the seal, but he had realized its purpose. This was an Uzumaki locking seal.

Locking seals like these were highly prized and extremely difficult to make. They allowed one to seal a scroll, quite permanently, and only those that were incorporated into the seal's design could unlock it. This one, in particular, would only open to an Uzumaki, and nobody else. He had just found himself the ultimate way to keep anything he wanted a secret. _Jiraiya_ had just given him a seal that could protect any information, a seal that would make it harder to figure him out, instead of simpler.

"…Pervy Sage, what's the big idea here?"

Naruto could only come to one conclusion. Jiraiya knew something, and he was playing along with it, giving him the tools to keep his activities secret from all but those he trusted.

"Things are getting too complicated," he complained to nobody in particular. "Where's a good old-fashioned fight when you could use one?"

He shook his head as he went through the rest of his scrolls. Stashed next to his private collection, safely tucked away in a hidden compartment, was the one containing Hidan's head. He picked it up and studied it for a long moment.

"Nah. He would just try to bite me, probably."

He tucked it back into its compartment, and locked it away. Vaguely, as if from a great distance, Naruto thought he could hear cursing.

* * *

**Author's Note:** The next chapter or two/three deal with the C-rank. Doesn't go much better than canon. :P**  
**

_Fūton: Shahei Kabe _- Wind Release: Shield Wall_  
__Fūton: Kaibutsu Nakigoe _- Wind Release: Monster's Cry___  
____  
_


	16. Heartless

**Chapter 16 - Heartless**

The sky was a strange colour; it was puce. That wasn't right. That was definitely not right. It had to be the eyes that were wrong, not the sky.

Some strange smell suffused the air, vaguely reminiscent of what one would find in a hospital, perhaps. Not a clean smell, really, more like something is rotting a little, only barely kept at bay by the Medical professionals.

Legs and arms refuse to serve, lungs breathe steadily, but very shallowly. Something was most definitely very wrong. What happened?

'_Keep an eye out for enemies, all of you.' Kurenai warned. 'This could be bad.'_

'_Of course.' Shino answered shortly, his eyes straight ahead as he adjusted his glasses._

'_Sensei, why are you so worried? You're a Jōnin, right? You can kick ass!' Kiba added._

'_Just... do it.' _

'_...I can't see anything, though,' Hinata volunteered carefully._

Memories refuse to coalesce beyond that; he only knew bits and pieces. A recollection of something sharp and quick worked its way to the surface. An object, slicing through the air, slicing through skin. A brief moment of fear, confusion, and pain. Then, only darkness.

"Where am I?"

He did not know if that was audible, or only in his head. His mouth felt numb, his whole body felt numb. He couldn't feel his insects, his companions. Something had hit him, and then this happened. Poison. It had to be.

How long had he been here? He could last far longer than anyone with a normal metabolism, but even he would suffer the consequences of exposure and lack of fluids. That had to be why his eyes stung: The fluids were conserved to keep his heart going, to keep his brain going. He would need outside help.

His chakra was useless; he could not even sense it, or his companions. He could probably not call out, either. There was nothing he could do but wait, and hope, and worry about the others.

Kurenai-sensei, Kiba, Hinata. They had not come for him. They knew where he had fallen, but they had not returned. There were few explanations for this, and none of them were good. They had been captured, they had been driven away from this location - or they were dead, as he would soon be. The very first mission, this far outside the village, and it ended in disaster.

Konoha needed to know what happened.

Concentrating once more, he focused on gaining access to his chakra. He did not care that it might shorten his life; he was already dying, after all, and he did not hold out much hope that anyone would find him here. If he could access even a trickle, he could contact his family. He could send one of his insects to the Aburame clan, with his last words. Perhaps the surge of chakra would serve as a beacon, so that his body might be found after it had expired, so that his clan's secrets could be preserved.

He prayed that his warning would arrive in time.

* * *

Travelling to Team 8's position turned out to be a lot more work than Naruto had counted on, but he trudged on without complaint. He had quickly realized that it was a small blessing he had stuffed his pack with storage scrolls of every description, seeing as this mission was even further away than the one to Wave, his original C-rank. Granted, they weren't going outside the Land of Fire this time, but the monotony of walking was getting to him.

They'd been on the road for nearly a week; a whole week of a Kakashi who seemed to think that his every movement needed to be monitored, a Sakura who was uncertain how to even address him, and a Sasuke who was quiet, even for him. Naruto just spent his time thinking about all the things he could be doing in this time, all the preparations for the Chūnin Exams he could be working on. Kabuto was still in the village, still a traitor, even if the ANBU were probably onto him thanks to the hints he had dropped. Tobi was _somewhere,_ probably up to no good, and the rest of Akatsuki must not be far behind. Zetsu, or whoever else had nearly caused his death, was still out there somewhere, and could strike again at any moment. And then there was still Orochimaru.

That snake's plans, at least, were thoroughly derailed. Kakashi had informed him that Suna had ended up in a conflict, and it wasn't hard to figure out which that was. His little agreement with the Kazekage, even if it was in Jiraiya's skin, had paid off. Orochimaru's forces were not so strong that they could take on Suna on their own. This was, after all, the reason that Orochimaru took the Kazekage's place in the first place, and organized a united attack on Konoha. Hopefully it would prevent the man's interference with the Exams, and spare Sasuke the cursed seal.

He had decided, though, to concentrate on the work at hand, and leave all that back in Konoha for a while. If things were still vaguely on track, it would still be a month or two before anything of significance happened, and the war in Suna would not spill over so readily. They would be home with time to spare, and there were always a few clones keeping an eye out for anything ugly.

"You seem pretty deep in thought," Kakashi said lightly, glancing over. "What's up?"

"I've been thinking about all the rumours," Naruto admitted. "You know, about Suna. Gaara talked to me about it, and he believes that after _he_ is done with the Sand village, he'll come for Konoha next. It's been a long time since there was a war…"

"Orochimaru of the Sannin is a powerful foe," Kakashi agreed. "You have to remember, though, that Konoha is strong."

"Only because of its protectors," Naruto muttered, and the corner of his mouth turned up. "Like us, right, sensei?"

"Right. Hopefully, it won't come to that, though."

Sasuke looked over with a bored expression, though Naruto wasn't fooled. Sasuke had been keeping a closer eye on him ever since he helped activate the Sharingan; probably the Uchiha figured something out about Kurama, about his status as a jinchūriki. He would deal with that if the boy ever brought it up.

"We are an awfully long way from Konoha now, though." Naruto glanced over his shoulder. "We've been going pretty fast, too. If anything happens back in town, what do we do?"

"Trust in the people back home," Kakashi answered, ruffling Naruto's hair. "You know they'll take care of things, don't you? They care about the place too, you know. You don't have to take everything personally."

Naruto supposed Kakashi was right. The flow of time had changed already, so if Orochimaru attacked now, would things go the same? Without Suna, there would be far fewer attackers, which meant a lot fewer casualties. With Jiraiya in the village, Orochimaru probably would not assault the Hokage directly either, given the risk. Things could go very differently, and he couldn't be everywhere. He had to trust the shinobi of the village to protect it, just as they always had.

"I see that you understand," Kakashi said. "Tonight's your first night. Are you ready for that responsibility?"

Naruto nodded sharply.

"I have a small announcement," Kakashi suddenly said, straightening. Sakura glanced over with a confused expression, and Sasuke just stared. "As of today, this mission's leader will no longer be me. For now, Naruto here will be your commander."

"What?" Sakura asked. "Why? Why _him?_"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he gazed at Naruto with an expression somewhere between suspicious and thoughtful. As he turned away, he spoke. "Don't screw it up."

"I don't get it," Sakura opined. "Why is _Naruto_ the leader now? This is our first C-rank, shouldn't _you _be the leader, sensei? In the academy, they told us that _Chūnin _were the lowest rank that actually led teams of their own…"

"The why is irrelevant," Sasuke said, eyes again fixed on Naruto, then sliding over to Kakashi.

"I'll do my best," Naruto said, suddenly a little nervous. He had not really been on a team for years before this one, mostly doing solo missions. Technically, this would be the first time he led this particular team, given what happened with Sasuke.

Still, he could think like a team leader, if he needed to. Kakashi already knew about the Rasengan, and many of his other skills, there was no reason to be particularly secretive with him. Sasuke knew enough to be suspicious, and clearly figured out he was better than he admitted to. Sakura, perhaps, was still caught up in her view of him in the academy, but that could change easily enough. They had a week or two away from the village, too: If he was ever going to show his true qualities, now would be a good time.

"Right," Naruto said after a long moment. "Kakashi, give me the mission details."

Kakashi blinked, and smiled slightly. "Yes, commander. A request for assistance came through from Team 8's sensei, Yūhi Kurenai, exactly eight days ago from today. It was transferred via the insects of the Aburame family, which have a high speed of flight, which means it was likely sent away only a day or two before we received it. There have been several quick messages since then, simple status reports to indicate that there is no immediate threat, but that the team is too small to handle the threat. Team 8 was engaged in border patrol along a fairly safe stretch, rooting out bandits for the most part rather than facing any shinobi."

Naruto didn't remember this mission; likely another team was assigned to it, and it wasn't exciting enough to actually be talked about much. Besides, he had barely known most of his fellow Genin at this point in time, back when these missions first happened. "Estimated time to arrival?"

"Seven hours at present speed."

Naruto frowned. "That would make our arrival at the worst possible time. None of us, except probably for you, can work at any kind of efficiency when it's three at night and we've just been travelling for a full day. If our arrival disturbs anyone, we would be screwed."

Sasuke and Sakura looked on with some confusion as Naruto stopped briefly.

"Something wrong?" Kakashi inquired. "Commander?"

"There is a clearing about three hours from here, alongside the jagged mountains to the west," he said, trying to remember when he had passed by here in the past, or future. "We will set up camp for the night there, since it's pretty secluded. Then we can reach Team 8 after a good meal and rest. They didn't seem to be in a particular hurry, so they'll probably not be too upset if we are a few hours late."

Kakashi shrugged. "If you're sure... But how would you know where to find a clearing out here?"

Naruto just smiled. "Trust me, I know." He knew because he had camped there before: It was the location of a battle that had occurred in the Third Shinobi World War, where someone had used a massive explosion technique and cleared the area. Indeed, that was one of the battles in which the Yellow Flash had first made his name known.

"I'm curious, sensei…" Sakura piped up. "Was there nobody any closer to Team 8 to help out, instead of sending another Genin team? Wouldn't it be a bit pointless to have people sitting around for so long just to wait?"

"Kurenai-sensei probably used the time to train her team," Naruto volunteered before Kakashi could comment. That had pretty much been what happened in Wave, after all: Kakashi had taught them chakra-control exercises in the week that they had simply been waiting around for Zabuza's inevitable return. "The last time I saw Shino and Kiba, I'm pretty sure they couldn't do the tree-walking yet, or stuff like that. Hinata probably can, since the Hyūga are all about chakra control. I figure if they want to have a shot at the Chūnin Exam, Kurenai will want to teach them some."

"Naruto is correct," Kakashi said, glancing up momentarily from his book, which he'd been reading for several days now. "C-rank missions don't tend to last for very long, but there are times when they extend to months. Usually they're paid like B-ranks to make up for the lost time. As for the Chūnin Exams: Those are a while off yet, and I don't know if there will be any rookies this time around."

Naruto didn't respond. Really, the Chūnin Exams were the last thing on his mind right now. Promotion was great, of course, but he would rather be promoted for his displayed skill, rather than because he won a contest that was mostly about advertising a village's shinobi to clients. With Orochimaru unlikely to interfere, it seemed of even less importance.

Travel to the clearing that Naruto remembered turned out to be a little trickier than he remembered; the forest was thicker now, since they weren't in the heart of winter, and the ground was slightly mushy. The clearing looked perfect, though; it was covered on one side by a steep hill, and on the other side was the forest, far too dense to easily walk through without getting heard. They were far away from villages, which should allow them to avoid Missing-Nin for the most part, who tended to wait around for easy ways to make money. Naruto still send out a few dozen Shadow Clones to blanket the area, just to make sure that they wouldn't be disturbed.

Kakashi had set up a few crude tents and put down his own sleep mat, a thin and uncomfortable-looking thing that would barely serve as a buffer against the rocky soil. Naruto looked at it with a frown.

"Is that really what you brought?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I packed light. Comfort's a luxury."

Naruto rolled his eyes, and put down his bag. It was stuffed from top to bottom with scrolls, lots of scrolls. Granted, he'd pretty much stuffed all the seals he had lying around in here, and a few were rather questionable. There was one that contained a vast collection of alcoholic drinks, for one, that he intended to use with Gamabunta, when he got around to the Summoning contract again. There was another, painted bright red, which contained a pheromone that... well, he didn't even want to think about it. He had bought it from the trader in town just to make sure that Jiraiya would never get his hands on it. Rummaging through his scrolls, he retrieved a few that would actually be useful.

"Honestly, if you're going camping, bring supplies," Naruto muttered. "Storage scrolls exist, you know." He quickly activated the one he held, and threw it on the ground. With an explosion of smoke and a brief pop, there was an entire bed, with mattress, blanket, and pillow, each of them marked with a spiral. "I packed four."

"...Where did you get all this stuff?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I live in an apartment that's mostly unused. I found most of the supplies in the basement, and a lot of it was still good, plus some of it is my own. I figured that I might as well make it count for something."

"At least tell me how you came to possess such a vast array of storage scrolls?" He peered into the bag curiously. "There have to be a hundred in here..."

"Eighty-nine," Naruto agreed.

"That would cost a _fortune,_"Sakura exclaimed. "I have _one, _and it cost more than a whole D-rank mission!"

"Did you all forget I make seals, all of a sudden?" Naruto asked in exasperation. "I made them all myself, of course. People throw away burned-out seals all the time, but they don't seem to realize that you can reuse the paper. There's a few Chūnin that are assigned specifically to filter them out of the trash so they can be reused, you know. I just… stepped in a little earlier."

"You picked them out of the trash," Kakashi said lazily, sniffing. "You cleaned them well. Can't smell it."

"How can you even smell through that mask?" Naruto questioned. "Anyway, I've got tents too, and I'm pretty sure there's about fifty meals worth of meat and veggies too. Is anyone up for something tasty?" He held up the scroll that was labelled 'All you can eat Ramen!' and smiled.

"...Idiot," Sasuke muttered.

"You didn't bring us any soup, did you?" Kakashi inquired mirthfully as he positioned a log next to the fire and lowering himself onto it. "You seem to have pretty much everything packed up. Did you leave anything in your home at all?"

"Gaara's taking care of the stuff I left behind, so that's all fine, I'm sure." He smiled at Kakashi, who nodded in understanding. "He has discovered sleeping, it seems, which basically means he will be catching up on about a decade of it. ANBU will be keeping an eye on him and my home while I'm away, since they're usually in the same place."

"Wait, Gaara? That Suna guy you mentioned?" Sakura inquired, blinking. "Why would he live in _your_ house?"

Naruto smiled nervously. "Ah, that's an interesting story, actually. We're similar in many ways, so we kind of got acquainted, though it wasn't in the best of circumstances." He glanced at Kakashi and smiled wryly. "We sort of share a history and an _occupation,_ if you will. So, the Hokage was fine with my request to house him at my place. Though I'll probably need to put one of these sealed beds somewhere. One is just too tiny for two people."

Sakura grimaced. "You sleep in one bed with that guy?!"

"N-No!" Naruto raised his hands, eyes wide. "I swear, I spent the whole last night deciphering seals for Pervy Sage, and napping on the couch. Took me _hours _to actually figure them out. Gaara was using my bed, so I didn't want to disturb him."

"...You let him sleep in your bed," deadpanned Sakura. "Freak!"

Naruto groaned. "I'm just making this worse, aren't I?"

Kakashi finally had mercy on him. "Gaara-san is an emissary for the Sand, Sakura. Due to certain agreements and previous meetings, Naruto is more familiar with the new arrival than anyone else. As a consequence, he is partially responsible for the boy's actions. Though I haven't seen any directly dangerous activity as of yet, so I doubt it'll be a problem."

Gaara, being seen as peaceful? Naruto smirked at the very idea. The moment that seal came off, or someone went too far, those claws would come out again. That could be a good thing; Gaara's power had let him become the Kazekage after all, and it wouldn't do to have it locked up forever. Hopefully his clones would have figured something out about the fixed seal when he got back.

"Ah, there's something I forgot!" Naruto said suddenly, as a thought occurred to him. With all this talk of seals, it had almost slipped his mind.

"You packed your entire bag with scrolls, and you still forgot something?" Kakashi questioned.

"No, no, I meant... " He quickly tossed a few scrolls aside as he dug in. "They're somewhere near the bottom. There!" He pulled out two long scrolls. "I finished them!"

"Finished?" Kakashi blinked. "Really?"

Naruto smiled. "I did tell you I'd work on these, right?" He tossed one of the scrolls to Kakashi. "There's about two-hundred in there, so that should tide you over. Works the same as the one you tested for me, but I worked out some of the bugs. Of course, you're still limited by your chakra levels."

Kakashi opened the scroll slightly. One end was attached to a wooden rod to keep it stable, the other was free. Bright symbols were inscribed on the white paper, jagged and sharp in the corners. In between the first and second was a thin line, like the paper was discoloured. With a quick tug, the first seal effortlessly detached from the roll. "Naruto, this way of detaching the seals..."

"I sort of got the idea from..."

"Toilet paper," Sasuke said with a grimace. "Wonderful."

"Hey, don't knock it 'till you tried it!" He tossed the second scroll over to his teammate, who blinked in surprise. "You asked, I delivered. Adoration of the creator is mandatory."

Sasuke didn't reply to that, but he did rip open his own scroll. Naruto didn't miss the split-second of glee as the Uchiha considered the seals, before he grabbed one curiously. "How does this one work?"

"You put it on the arm that you do your whole blowy thing with," Naruto said, miming the Great Fireball technique. "The position's not strictly necessary, but it's got the best efficiency if it's at least in the vicinity of the tenketsu points that you use. You bring your hand to your mouth, so that counts."

Sasuke went to place the seal, but Naruto stopped him before he could try it out. The Uchiha frowned. "What?"

"Do you want to attract every shinobi in a dozen miles?" Naruto asked dryly. "Skip the usual steps of hand seals, since the seal does the shaping for you. Doing it twice would just slow the technique down, it wouldn't make it any stronger. Don't try and use it with other techniques, either. I'm not sure what that would do, since this one's basically designed for one jutsu, like Kakashi's."

"Alright." Sasuke grabbed the seal and hung it on his belt. It was a little unwieldy, but Naruto figured that it was nowhere near as bad as the gargantuan scroll that Jiraiya carried around on his back. "Thanks, Dead Last."

"I thought I told you not to call me that," Naruto replied playfully. He glanced up to the trees. "Sakura? When you figure out the whole element business, I can make some for you, too. Maybe even for medical techniques, though I'd have to read up on that. There's this chakra scalpel technique that's supposed to be hard, maybe I could figure that out?"

Sakura voiced her agreement as she briefly slipped below the leaves, before she went back to scouting. She was seemingly more interested in Sasuke's new addition to his weapons than what he said. Figured. She would probably need a reality check like last time, when she had realized quite abruptly that she was a little more than a fan girl. Perhaps it would take another upset like Orochimaru's attack in the Chūnin Exams to get her out of this slightly subservient mentality.

"Please take care not to rely on these seals," Kakashi warned. "Though I'm sure that Naruto knows what he's doing, everyone makes mistakes. Use them when you have an alternative means of taking out the enemy first. That way you don't risk your life if one of these fails on you."

"Pervy Sage did check them for me, you know," Naruto complained. "He said they were fine, and he even made them a little more resilient for me, with this special paper."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Presumably that's a good sign. Still, experimental techniques are just that. Be careful."

"When have I ever been careful?" Naruto muttered to himself. There was a third long scroll in his bag, stuffed somewhere to the side. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to test it; he had no safe way of doing so. Still, if things ever went south, he at least had it as a backup.

Naruto slumped down on his bed, leaving the tents for a bit to just stare at the stars that were coming out. The moon was blood red in the sky - even more so than he remembered. Legend had it that blood must have been spilt that night. Naruto wondered why, if that was the case, it wasn't red every time he saw it.

He was still pondering that an hour later, when he finally drifted off to sleep in his rickety second-hand bed, his tent forgotten.

* * *

Jiraiya dropped into the chair across from the Third Hokage with a contemplative expression. He was staring at something in his hands, a seal; he had been studying it for the past few days, in fact. Hiruzen just waited.

"You have news?" Hiruzen finally asked, to break the silence. "Already?"

"Sort of. There are... some things that I wanted to research, before I came to you. It's about this seal, the one that Naruto claimed to have created for himself." He put it down on the desk. "It's a remarkable piece of work; given the subject matter, I think that any nation would kill to get their hands on it. Kumo certainly would. They have had problems with Jinchūriki before."

"You said 'claimed'. Do you believe he got it from someone else?"

"Not... exactly." He leaned back with narrowed eyes. "I know that the boy took scrolls from the tower, which is a bit of a tradition, it seems, and that included a lot of his parents' materials. I thought that they would be far beyond any novice, given that _I_ can barely make sense of the stuff, but this puts some question marks on that." He tapped the paper. "This is partly based on some original style, presumably Naruto's, but there are definitely elements of his father's know-how in here. I would almost think he had access to his seal's key, but that's still safely with the toads. It seems that he reconstructed a little part of it; essentially to tighten the seal instead of unlocking it."

"I am not a seal master like you, Jiraiya," Hiruzen said. "What are you implying?"

"He's been taught by someone who knew Minato's sealing techniques, or he's a genius." Jiraiya shook his head. "Well, I suppose he's near enough to a genius if he can pull this off at eleven, but that's beside the point. He doesn't know it yet, but I've been testing him. When he's back from his trip, I'm going to have him sign a summoning contract. I'm still considering whether or not I should do the Toads or find some other one that fits. "

"There are some that lie unused in the tower. May I ask why you suddenly decided on this?"

"Not yet." He turned away. "Not until I speak to him. He will be back before the Exams begin; I will do so then. Trust me."

"I do trust you, Jiraiya. "

"He will need my help," Jiraiya said seriously. "I know a few things that I rather I didn't, but there's no changing it. I owe it to Minato to put some faith in his son, at the very least." He smiled. "The boy's his legacy, after all."

Hiruzen nodded. "There have been cases like him, before. Genin who are far more capable than they ought to be. Kakashi. Itachi. You."

"I wasn't _that _good."

"You were the Sannin for a reason, you know. From the very beginning." He smiled warmly. "Orochimaru did terrible things, later in life, but he too belonged in that group. I just dearly hope that Naruto will not head in the same direction."

Jiraiya frowned. "He's _Naruto_. Even with as little as I spoke to him, I know he's not malevolent. Secretive, sure. Even manipulative, but I don't think he would be malicious."

"Really?" Hiruzen wondered. "I thought the same, until quite recently. Naruto was the quirky weirdo, a boy with a love of the colour orange and lots of ramen, who called me by nicknames for fun and liked to mess up the neighbourhood. Then, quite suddenly, the façade crumbled. He dropped his mask, and I'm not sure I like what was hidden underneath. There are already too many shinobi who fail to connect with the world, people turned into weapons. I certainly do not want Naruto to head into that direction. He seems to believe that he should."

"He understands the history of the jinchūriki," Jiraiya said. "He also knows what a shinobi does, and it's natural to draw conclusions from that. You know that he means to be Hokage. If he's serious about that, then protecting the village would be his top priority, before anything else. Remember your own youth? I've heard the stories."

Hiruzen smiled grimly. "I'd like to think I have gained some restraint in my years."

"Then consider Minato," Jiraiya said. "You know that he hid his serious side below smiles and confident steps. They were genuine smiles, and I wouldn't dismiss the possibility that Naruto's are real, too. When things got nasty, though, you know what Minato did. He single-handedly slew an entire contingent of Iwa shinobi. He did so more than once, even. He was a genius with a core of steel, and he was the Hokage that Konoha needed, though he died far before his time."

"And what if Naruto does the same?" Hiruzen asked. "What if he dies early, like his parents, because I was not there to protect him? Konoha failed Minato before; I can't let that happen again."

"He is a ninja."

"And Minato's _son,_ as you said," Hiruzen countered. "Would I forgive him, if he let my children die under his watch?"

Jiraiya snorted. "Now you are stretching the truth, old man. I don't believe for a second that's your true motivation here. I know you too well. You, too, are a shinobi with a core of steel. Tell me, what is your true reason?"

Hiruzen was silent for a long time, considering his answer. "Jiraiya, what do you know of the organization known as Root?"

* * *

"Take point, Sasuke," Naruto said as he packed his last supplies and hoisted the bag onto his bag. "You can keep your Sharingan on for longer periods than sensei can, and that thing should allow you to warn us if anything too nasty is headed our way."

Sasuke frowned. "What of the trick you use? The chakra pulse?"

"Can't do it too often," Naruto said. "If I overdo it, I get some side-effects. Most of them aren't pleasant. Nature of the technique, I'm afraid. Your eyes are way more reliable over a longer period." He didn't add, of course, that he wanted everyone on the team to have a role. He had learned well enough in the past that having some team members tag along, they wouldn't do much in the mission. That wouldhelp _nobody._

It was true enough, though, that he couldn't use the natural chakra too much. Yes, it allowed him to sense other people nearby, essentially turning him into a Sensor type ninja for a second. Still, even a whiff of it had a tendency to stick around in his chakra circulatory system, and he had no idea what would happen if he tried to go Sage Mode without his proper training. Not only was he not in balance with this body, even if that was improving, but he didn't even have the Toad contract, and he had no idea if he actually needed that as well.

"Sakura, you're a scout. Use your chakra control to pass over the tops of the trees, and try not to get spotted." He smiled. "Use _Henge_ to blend in."

She saluted mockingly and immediately sprinted up the nearest tree.

"My, you sure have the presence," Kakashi muttered, smiling. "So, what is my job, oh great commander?"

"You're our enforcer, if we need that," Naruto said seriously. "You're easily the fastest, and with those seals I gave you, you could probably impale about half a dozen people with that technique of yours, and all in quick succession. Just take care not to exhaust yourself too quickly. Keep the eye for emergencies."

Kakashi hummed in agreement. "Have you done this before?"

Naruto didn't answer, staring ahead. "Do you sense anything odd, by the way? I've been a bit uneasy for the last half hour. I figured it was just the fox, but there's nothing leaking through." He tapped his stomach softly. "Basically, I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Or you just at too much ramen again."

"I'm serious. I think I'll send some clones ahead." He crossed his fingers, and a dozen clones popped into existence with barely a sound. "Report on any suspicious activity," he said immediately, and they leapt away. They were all gone within seconds, hidden.

"Nifty," Kakashi said. "They hide well."

"What's the point of having scout clones if they can't hide themselves?" Naruto asked rhetorically. "Anyway, we're only about half an hour away from..." He stopped, and sniffed. "Do you smell that?"

Kakashi took a deep breath. "It's pungent, but barely detectable even by me. How did _you _smell it?"

Naruto just looked at him askance, tapping his stomach dryly. Sasuke noticed the movement, and Naruto wondered how much the boy had figured out. It would be time to tell them something, sooner rather than later. "My clones will have picked it up too, so we'll just have to wait for a bit." He paused. "It would have been really dramatic if one popped right then."

Sasuke looked over his shoulder curiously as he noticed that Kakashi and Naruto had stopped moving. Even Sakura peeked out from the leaves, balanced easily on the side of a tree.

"I think it's coming from the south-east, but I can't be sure," Naruto opined. He recognized the smell, but he wasn't sure from where. It was slightly sweet, but with a nasty edge to it.

Then, the memories came.

"Oh, _shit._" Naruto was off in an instant, the ground blurring by as he stormed off as quickly as he could, and directing chakra to his legs as he went. It took him less than two minutes to reach his target, two minutes for the septic smell to become unbearable. He ignored Kakashi and the others catching up. There, pale and breathing in short bursts, was a body; one arm was missing entirely, the other pressed against his side, undoubtedly broken.

"Shino!"

The body was breathing, but only slightly. Shino's eyes rolled up, and for a split second it looked as if he smiled. Then, with a lengthy sigh, he stopped breathing.

* * *

Jiraiya slumped back in his seat, raising a hand to his forehead. "I know enough about that organization. What about them?"

"Root still exists."

Jiraiya blinked, and sat up. "What did you say?"

"It is true. _Root_ still exists. I suspected it before, but now I know it for certain. Even to this day, a small contingent of shinobi belonging to this forbidden organization, and remains under Danzō's direct command."

"And the traitor's still alive? _Why?_"

"Danzō was, and still is, a friend," Hiruzen said after a moment. "You said that I am a shinobi with a core of steel. If that is so, Danzō has a core of adamant. It is true that he and I differ on a number of positions, but there are also many things that we share in common. We both care deeply about the survival of the village, and about maintaining its security and prosperity. We have different methods, different ideas, but they tend to coincide when it comes to ultimate goals. Most importantly, we know well when to look beyond the obvious."

"You can't tell me you're allowing an illegal organization to flourish, independent of your control?" Jiraiya asked, appalled. "If you know that Danzō's actively betraying you, how can you not remove him?"

"I know _all _about Root, Jiraiya," Hiruzen said sharply. "I have spent the past week using my considerable resources to study the problem. I kept you out, because I know that you would have interceded."

Jiraiya grumbled, but didn't disagree.

"I am well aware, now, of what remains of that organization. I know, and I understand why Danzō maintained them, why he leads them to this day, even against my express orders. I do not agree with his methods, nor do I appreciate his subterfuge, but I understand his reasoning. In several hours, I have arranged for a meeting between the two of us, and I will discuss the future of him, and his organization. He will be punished, but he will not be killed."

"…Why not?"

"Disturbed as I am to say it, I still need his presence, and I don't want to upset the village, not when we have enemies practically on our doorstep. Danzō has trained many children to be expert operatives in the field, to be as good as most ANBU." Hiruzen's age suddenly seeming to overtake him. "These people cannot be removed from their current lives without damaging them further, without destroying the constants they use to survive. Recently, I spoke to one of them; a boy that misspoke in my presence. I would not have thought twice about it, if not for other events. It was heart-breaking to see what has been done, but it is not irreparable. Besides that, they remain Konoha shinobi."

Jiraiya shook his head tiredly. "So, what? You're going to keep them like they are?"

"Yes." Hiruzen looked away. "Though I don't care to maintain the emotional regime that has been forced upon them, these Root shinobi cannot be easily brought into the normal shinobi force. The most promising cases will be allowed to adapt over time by working with daylight teams, but the rest will remain as they are, until we have an alternative. They will be our silent operatives."

Jiraiya grimaced, and then paled as realization hit him. "Oh, no, you're not saying..."

"You will be responsible for them," Hiruzen said it with finality. "You know where they could do the most good, and your extensive experience with spying should give you some understanding of their mind-set. You may even be able to remove the seals upon their tongues that prevent them from speaking to Danzō, or modify them to refer to myself instead, in case you can't."

Jiraiya slumped. "Do I have to do this?"

Hiruzen walked to the window and stared out over the darkened streets. "There is something more going on than you know, Jiraiya. Danzō tipped his hand too easily. He used a Root member to test Uchiha Sasuke's loyalty; the fact that none of my own reported delivering anything to the boy made it very clear to me. It is an aberration. It does not fit."

"You think he's setting us up?" Jiraiya shook his head. "Why would he implicate himself, expose his own organization?"

"Exactly. I believed that Root was disbanded, and I was honest in that belief. I trusted Danzō with enough autonomy that he was able to hide his actions from me. Alerting me to Root's continued existence was sloppy and hurtful to his cause. Danzō is not sloppy." He steepled his fingers together. "I have to consider the possibility that Danzō's hand was forced, or that someone else manipulated events to dishonour him, to expose him. It's possible that someone meant for me to discover this organization."

"...Isn't that a good thing?"

Hiruzen frowned. "I doubt it. Though I am loath to admit it, Danzō and his Root operatives could be a powerful force when applied in the right circumstances. Their sheer power was one reason why the group was disbanded in the first place, considering they could be a threat to the village, autonomous as they were. They form an invisible line of defence for the village, one that could be removed without declaring war."

Jiraiya groaned. "Someone's trying to weaken Konoha. To what end?"

Hiruzen was silent for a long time, as he puffed on his pipe. "I'm afraid we have to consider the possibility that Orochimaru is already moving. By sabotaging Danzō's control over his hidden troops, they cannot be relied upon to counter an assault on the village, or to eliminate enemy forces. He would presume that I would be too kind-hearted to maintain Root as it is."

"It sounds like him," Jiraiya muttered darkly. "Does Danzō know about all this, or not?"

"I suspect that he does," Hiruzen allowed. "He agreed to meet me, though, on equal terms. Whatever else Danzō might have done, he has never attacked me. I believe we can come to an arrangement." He frowned. "The reason that I discovered the subterfuge was a blatant mistake he evidetly made regarding Uchiha Sasuke's black scroll. _That_ is where the sabotage happened. It is where Danzō must have been double-crossed. Despite having access to normal shinobi, he used a Root operative. He exposed his actions, and that seems improbable."

"What do you mean?"

"The scroll was a test; Uchiha Sasuke was requested to spy on Naruto in exchange for advanced training. It was an offer that seemed appropriate, considering the boy's reputation. There will be similar tests for the other members of the team, in due time. I chose someone impartial who had not previously interacted with the Genin in question to do this task. Danzō."

"And thus we return to Naruto," Jiraiya murmured. "You distrust him enough to do something like that? To try and trick his team members into betraying him?"

Hiruzen sat down again, putting away his pipe. "Tell me, did you think that the story about meeting this sand jinchūriki is plausible? I suspect it was a lie. I always thought Naruto was very bad liar, but I know for a fact now that I was mistaken about that. He lies well, and frequently, and about important things. That is a worrying conclusion, and it calls into question many of the assumptions I made about him."

"Your trust in him is really gone, isn't it?" Jiraiya shivered.

Hiruzen looked aside, but didn't dispute it. "This brings me to another possibility, one that I have considered for a time now. What are the chances, do you think, that Naruto was trained in Root?"

"_What?_"

"He does not have the seal, but I am doubtful it would work very well on someone like him," Hiruzen explained. "There have been observations from ANBU forces that indicate that Naruto has been a shinobi for years, at the very least long enough to pick up numerous habits of experience, and that his stealth abilities seem particularly well-developed. Exactly the type of skill that Danzō prizes."

Jiraiya had gone pale. "I'm pretty sure he's never been in Root."

"What then, Jiraiya? ANBU? He can't have picked it up on his own."

"There are other possibilities," Jiraiya said. "You are awfully quick in assuming the worst."

"I am the Hokage, Jiraiya. I can't afford to be optimistic when it comes to threats to the village. I give people the benefit of the doubt, but when things just keep piling up…" He looked down tiredly. "I have already waited too long in the past, and it caught up with me. Orochimaru is one example. The Uchiha massacre is another. What will happen this time, if I am too lax again?"

"You said you trust me," Jiraiya said slowly. "Do you take that back?"

"No…"

"Then _trust me,_" Jiraiya said. "You are assuming the worst. You know that Minato's son wouldn't be a traitor. He wants to be Hokage, for crying out loud. You know that he didn't grow up as an emotionally stunted person, either. You _know_ that he has been training with his father's seals."

"And techniques," Hiruzen mumbled.

"Why then do you so easily discount that maybe Minato's still looking out for his kid? Or that he is genuinely _that _good? Neither of those possibilities are any more absurd than the idea of Naruto as a heartless subordinate of _Danzō_."

"You seem certain of that."

Jiraiya smiled. "I am. Trust me, and trust Naruto. He's got a big heart, I swear."

* * *

"No, damn it," Naruto snarled as he slapped Kakashi's hand away. "I'm not stopping now. He's alive. _He's still warm_."

Kakashi looked down at Shino. "That wound, it's been infected for days. The toxins spread all around him. Even if you could get him back from the brink, he would never reach a village in time…"

Naruto stared at him darkly, then looked to his teammates. "Sakura, you know first aid. _Help._"

"Naruto…"

"I order you to help me," Naruto said. "Now. Check his heart rate."

Sakura's face was bone-white as she felt for a pulse. "I don't think… His heart's not beating anymore. I don't feel anything, anyway..."

"Damn." Naruto shook his head. "Fine, I'll have to figure something else out." He closed his eyes momentarily. "Think, think..."

His eyes snapped open and locked onto Kakashi's. "Give me one of those seals I gave you," he barked. He waited for a long moment. "If I'm the leader of this team, then you will follow my orders without second-guessing them." Kakashi finally handed over the seal, and Naruto smiled in satisfaction. "This should work, with a little adjustment..." He grabbed a brush from his pocket, and bit his finger. "Blood should be enough to modify this, especially mine. Keep him steady, would you?"

Kakashi held Shino as Naruto pressed his seal onto the boy's chest, adding a small part to the bottom of it, a spiral-like shape. "Naruto, are you sure…?"

"He's dead otherwise, isn't he?" Naruto said. "Trust me, sensei."

"Improper seals can explode. Two deaths aren't what I want on my conscience here," Kakashi said. "Naruto-"

Naruto grimaced. "Get back, all of you. If you're going to take any order, then follow that one." He looked at Kakashi. "I am running out of time, here. His heart might be dead, and then this won't help. But if it isn't, not all the way, then there's a chance."

Kakashi doubted for a moment, and then gave in. He launched himself away from Shino and his student, dragging Sakura and Sasuke along.

Good.

Naruto pressed his hand down on his seal, hoping dearly that he had remembered the inversion seal properly. He didn't have a lightning nature, but the limited amount of chakra that was converted by the seal _should_ be enough. It was a crude version of the technique that Medical-Nin used, but in the field, it would have to do. Before he could rethink his decision, he channelled his chakra into the seal.

The world lighted up for a long moment, and his arm seemed connected to Shino's chest for that duration. He couldn't have moved even if he wanted to. The electrical shock travelled through him and into the soil through his knees, and he grit his teeth against the pain.

Shino whimpered for a moment, but he breathed in slightly. Under his hand, Naruto could feel a feeble heartbeat. He had been in time.

"That was the easy part," Naruto muttered. "Hold on."

He crossed his legs, and closed his eyes. Healing techniques wouldn't cut it here, and he didn't know any. Shino was going to die again, and more permanently, if he didn't get a lot of healing, quickly. There was only one being that he knew could deliver that kind of power, and it was locked inside him.

* * *

The shock tore through the air for a long moment, and Kakashi feared the worst as he looked down towards the little alcove where he had left Naruto. It was crazy, but he had obeyed Naruto's order. A _Genin's_ order.

For a second there, he had been back in his own team, Team Minato, and it had been Naruto's father that gave him an order, that told him to back off. He had obeyed.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Stay here," Kakashi said, looking at Sakura. "Don't go anywhere. Whoever did _that_ might still be out here. Don't go anywhere I can't see you, not even if you see other members of Team 8, alright? There might be traps out here, or Genjutsu. There could be enemy shinobi."

Sakura shivered. "What did Naruto _do _just now_?_"

"Shock the heart," Sasuke answered. "It's an emergency medical technique to get the heart out of a bad rhythm, even one that can't be felt." He frowned when Sakura gaped at him. "I thought you learned first aid?"

"I'm pretty sure it didn't include seals!"

Kakashi shrugged. "I will go see if it was successful," he said. "Stay. Here."

Kakashi wasn't sure if he was terrified or relieved about what he found. Although it was plain that Shino was breathing again, that he lived, Naruto was slumped over him with his hand still on the boy's chest, an angry scar running all across his exposed arm. Lightning has seared through him as well as Shino's body, probably releasing from both side of the seal at once and trying to find two separate ways to reach the soil and discharge. Naruto was alive, but he was unconscious.

When Kakashi tried to remove the boy's hand, though, he realized with a start that he couldn't. Naruto was keeping himself still with chakra, as if he was climbing a tree. In fact, his whole body seemed to be stuck in a lotus position. As if for... meditation?

"What are you doing now, you silly boy?"

"Saving a life," Naruto muttered, and Kakashi twitched. Naruto's eyes were still closed, his muscles still slack. "Don't disturb me."

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair. "Alright. I don't think things can get any weirder..."

* * *

The sewer was as disgusting as it ever was, and Naruto waded towards the huge cage before him without taking any note of it; the scent of rotten flesh still dominated the sewer's anyway. That had to be bleed-through from reality.

"I need your help," Naruto said seriously as he stepped up to the darkness. "Kurama?"

"Who gave you permission to use that name?" Kurama replied, though it didn't sound as angry as he recalled it. It didn't even lash out.

"_You_ did, actually."

The fox grumbled. "This boy never died in your time, did he?" he inquired as it stepped into view, his teeth gleaming. "This event is an anomaly. You changed something, and now you are responsible for killing those who should have many years left. Did I not tell you that there would be consequences?"

Naruto scoffed. "Don't presume to tell me what I can and can't do."

"You see, now, why going back is abominable?" The fox shook his head. "It will not be better than before, you know. It can't. There is a balance to be kept. You are a force for order, you form events to your will. There must be an equal force for disorder. The world will only be worse in the end."

Naruto shook his head. "We can discuss that later. Right now, Shino is dying. I don't know what got him, and I don't care right now. I'll deal with the ones responsible after I'm done here. I need your assistance."

"And you think I'll give it?"

"You're not stupid, Kurama." Naruto grabbed a bar of the fox's prison. "I wish I could give you the experiences that I shared with the _other _you, but it would only be third person for you, not really believable. It wouldn't be real. Perhaps, if we trusted each other as we did once before, all this bickering wouldn't be necessary."

"The world will only become worse," Kurama repeated.

"Will it?" Naruto grabbed another bar and peered into the darkness, barely making out the beast's huge form. "In the other world, seven out of the nine tailed beasts were sealed away in an attempt to recreate the Jūbi. Gaara lost Shukaku to Akatsuki, because he was unprepared for their assault. In case you haven't been paying attention, Gaara's in Konoha now, and soon he will have a seal that will give him the ability to channel the Ichibi at will, like I can channel your chakra. Akatsuki won't have such an easy time."

"How is that better? Then he too will be chained up, like me?"

"Because you were _unchained_, in my time," Naruto said. "There was no seal at all, like I told you before. You and I fought together, even shared our body, so that you could interact with the outside world again. You spoke through me, you acted through me. Without you, I would have been dead long ago. If we can have that, the Kyūbi and its jinchūriki, then the same can be true for others. Gaara could conquer the Ichibi's hate, and so could the other hosts. We could be allies, like the Sage intended."

Kurama stared with narrowed eyes. "Why did you not just take my chakra, if such power is what you so desire?"

Naruto shook his head. "You know why. Your chakra is corrosive in my hands. I cannot truly control it. It reflects your intent, and your intent is to destroy. When I had control of it, for a while, it was calm and steady, and protected me like a shroud. My body is capable of handling even your most hateful intent, as it has coped with it for years. Shino, though…"

"He would be burned up utterly."

"Right. I don't have the key to your cage, and I don't think that we trust each other enough to go that far, not yet. If you betrayed me in that moment, you know that I would drag us both into death, to protect all the other people for a decade or more. On the other hand, you don't know if giving me your chakra would allow me to subjugate you, turn you into even less than you are."

Kurama growled. "True."

"You know dad made this seal, right?" Naruto raised up off the ground, reaching for the little paper. "He's here, now, sort of. He's listening in, probably panicking about the concept of me ripping off the seal and opening your cage." He smiled. "He's a bit overprotective like that. It's what fathers do, I guess."

He sat down in mid-air, floating in front of the seal. It was his mind; he could do what he wanted. "What you don't know, not yet, Kurama, is that it's not a seal that requires our antagonism. That's how it has worked for all these years, because that's how we interact, but it doesn't have to be. If I allowed it, and you had no malicious intent, then it would allow more than just your chakra to flow through. Not for very long and not much more than a tail's worth, but it would be enough. Chakra, as well as your mind. Your intent, capable of manipulating your chakra, outside my body."

"…I could kill the boy, then. And everyone else."

"As many as you could reach in a minute or two," Naruto agreed. "Only a single tail, though; Kakashi could hold you off. Shino would be defenceless, I admit." He paused for a long moment. "I am willing to allow you this access."

"What?" The fox reared back.

"Shino is dying, and your chakra alone won't work," Naruto said. "I know that a tail's worth of chakra is enough to heal grievous wounds in minutes; it grew back a large portion of my chest in the wake of Sasuke's attack, when he skewered me with Chidori. It might not be enough to give Shino his arm back, but it should destroy the infection, repair the damage it has already caused. He would survive." He looked up to Kurama and spread his arms. "I promised myself that I would not keep lying to people, manipulating them only because I can. I'm still not sure if it's a good way to go, but I have to believe it is. I need to trust - that's why I'm giving you a chance, too."

Kurama stared down on his host with fire in his eyes. "…You are more like _him _than I expected."

"I take that as a great compliment. If I give you this chance, will you promise to heal Shino? I know your taste of freedom would only be for a moment, but it would be a start. A step on the road back to trust between us."

Kurama didn't answer in words. Streams of chakra erupted from between the bars, and everything turned white.

* * *

The transition was instantaneous. One moment, Naruto was sitting there with his head bent, breathing slowly. Then chakra flashed around him like fire, scorching the air around it so quickly that Kakashi could only just avoid the blaze.

"Naruto!"

"Not quite," the boy said under his breath, his eyes blazing red.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well, here you go with the first part of the C-rank. Yeah, C-ranks are pretty much cursed, aren't they? Also, more Jiraiya and some Kakashi moments for those who requested them. :)

Be sure to check out Shezza's 'Life in Konoha's ANBU' - it's good!


	17. Butterfly's Wings

**Chapter 17 – Butterfly's Wings **

The sun peeked just over the top of the horizon, and its last rays caused strange shadows on the Hokage monument, where four solemn faces looked out over their village. Yet, despite the calm muttering of civilians in the streets, there was something _off_.

Of course, Kakashi reflected, it could just be that Gai had forgotten to use his deodorant again.

"We should have a most glorious battle!" Maito Gai exclaimed enthusiastically. "To test our mettle, our muscles against each other, while we are still young! Don't think I have forgotten that first time we truly fought all-out, in the Chūnin Exams! You defeated me then, but no more!"

Kakashi sighed as he glanced over to his excitable friend. "Hmm? Can't we just decide by Rock-paper-scissors today?"

Gai clenched his fists, grimacing. "Not _that_ again! Can't we have a more heated battle for once?! You call yourself my rival?"

Kakashi shook his head tiredly. "Not today, Gai. I want to meet with Minato-sensei later, and if I'm all beat up and bloody, that's not going to happen. Besides, you were the one to first claim me as your rival, don't you remember?" He thought back to that battle in the Chūnin exams and frowned. That was back when he had a proper team. Gai probably didn't understand that he had some awful memories associated with that time, because he lost so much of what made it great. He looked away. "Hey, Gai, do you feel something weird? The air feels cold..."

"What is with your attitude?" Gai exclaimed, fuming. "We'll never be young like this again! Let us fight!"

Kakashi ignored his excitable friend, frowning. Perhaps it was just nervous jitters, because of what he knew was happening outside Konoha, in a secluded location. Tonight was the night that Minato-sensei's child would be born, and he and Kushina-san had everything prepared. It was natural to be a bit nervous when he couldn't help out at all.

"Kakashi…" Gai said, for a moment looking almost serious. "I see that you have many deep thoughts that fight for your attention. I will go train for our next challenge, then!"

"Sure..." Kakashi carded a hand through his hair as he tried to relax. He was on his way somewhere else before he had even fully decided where to go. When he passed the first field of graves, he knew. Fourth from the side, four rows in. He stopped lightly before the headstone, a few flowers arranged around the plaque. It read: 'Nohara Rin'.

He stood in silence for a long moment, hands in his pockets, eyes downcast. "Hello, Rin. I'm sorry I don't come more often."

The stone, of course, didn't answer. Kakashi came here after every long mission, but as a Jōnin, those could last for weeks or months. He was still young, but he knew well enough that it would only get worse with time. He remembered well how often his father would be gone for long periods, how he would complain about being away from Konoha for so long.

He remembered, too, the horror of finding his father after one, crumpled on the floor. He winced at the memory, shuddered at the other deaths that it brought to mind. There had already been too many. For all his complaints, his team had been _his_ team. After Obito and Rin, he wondered if he could ever have a team like that again. He had friends, he supposed, but not like those two. The only one that really still counted as close was his sensei.

Soon, another point of light might be added. He smiled sadly at the thought. A new Namikaze, the child of his sensei. Who knew; perhaps he would get good enough to be the brat's teacher when he or she graduated from the academy in a few years. It was a comforting thought, to know that new people would be born to fill in the gaping holes left by others.

He looked down on the headstone with his one open eye. "Rin... this is all top-secret, but Minato-sensei's child is probably already born by now. That child is from a new generation, one that doesn't know about war. If only we, too, were born a little later..."

The Third Shinobi World War still weighted heavily on his mind. Kakashi he had earned a bit of a reputation of late, for his actions. Not unlike the Fourth's, or his father's. It was inevitable, he supposed. People sought out someone to believe in, someone to put their trust into. He himself did: He looked up to Minato-sensei, and even a little to his teammates who showed him how to be a better shinobi, a better person.

"I have to tell Obito, too," Kakashi said after a moment. "Goodbye... Rin."

He did not really want to leave, but the restless feeling wouldn't go away, even while he tried to distract himself with physical exertion, by socializing with people of his generation. He headed back towards the village at high speed more because he needed something to do than because he believed that he needed to hurry. The chilly feeling wouldn't leave him, and he was so deep in thought that he almost ran into someone in the road. He managed to halt himself in time, cursing himself for his inattention. He almost toppled over his own feet and immediately told himself that if he was going to do this again, he'd take the roof.

"Ah, Kakashi-san!" the man he almost bowled over exclaimed, smiling warmly. "You shouldn't run in the streets, you know, you could get hurt. Though I suppose I should not be too strong in that sentiment, or I'd be all out of work!" He shook his head in amusement as he pulled Kakashi to the side. "You are intact, right?"

It took Kakashi a moment to place the dark-haired man, since he wasn't wearing his usual working clothes now, and that had thrown him off. He gave a tiny bow. "Mochizuki-san. I apologize."

The man smiled ruefully. "Ryosuke, please. I am still kind of young, there's no need to get so formal." He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "You know, it's funny that I should find you here, really. I'm just on my way to the hospital, and I guess you might as well tag along. I have some delicious tea and cookies, plus there are all sorts of interesting new tests I could do on that eye of yours! Extraordinary, you know, having an implanted Sharingan like that, truly marvellous. I swear, if it wasn't for that girl you had along, I'm sure you would have-"

"Ryosuke-san?"

Ryosuke paused, and then grimaced. "Ah, sorry about that. I do get carried away sometimes. But my offer for delicious tea at the hospital was genuine."

Kakashi glanced around him, but the street was clear. "Now that you're here to answer me... Do you have any news yet?"

"Not yet, that I've heard," Ryosuke noted shortly, frowning momentarily. "I can't really tell you everything, but… All right. Kushina's health is great, as always, but she will be tired from the process, like any other would. There are good people caring over her, though. You shouldn't worry too much."

"Can't help it," Kakashi admitted. "Why aren't you involved?"

"I'm only a junior medic, you know, despite all the times I had to patch you up. Just a mere Chūnin." He smiled. "Perhaps in a few years, I'll have the kind of authority to be at these kinds of things. One of the Elders is with Hokage-sama, and I'm certainly not _that_ high up the food-chain."

"Minato-sensei must be terrified..."

"Probably, but that's like any father, right?" He glanced around quickly, whispering conspiratorially. "I'll tell you a secret: I'm pretty certain that it's going to be a _boy_."

"A boy, huh?" Kakashi smiled warmly.

Ryosuke nodded eagerly. "Of course, the jutsu could be off, but I'm pretty sure I got it right. Little Namikaze junior."

"Do you suppose he'll take after Minato, then?"

"I don't really know, I can't determine that sort of thing ahead of time," Ryosuke said with a shrug. "But I'm sure he'll make his father proud."

Before Kakashi could respond, there was a rumble in the air, and the feeling that had been edging on his consciousness intensified a thousand times. It was chakra, unbelievably powerful chakra, burning and itching in his throat as if it suffused the air itself. Kakashi only had enough time to whip his head around in the direction of the sound before all hell broke loose.

He had been blown off his feet, Kakashi realized. It took a moment to reorient himself. His hitai-ate had slipped off, and Obito's Sharingan blazed alight, more acute that it had ever been. He could not move, as his arms and legs seemed frozen. Ryosuke was panting beside him, and Kakashi could not manage to speak to the man. Not that he had the words.

A towering mass of red dominated the sky, a massive hulking form wreathed in blazing chakra. The creature had nine huge tails, and a single swipe of its claws demolished a dozen houses, bodies flying around like ragdolls.

As senior Jōnin arrived across the rooftops, Kakashi managed to breathe again. Before he fully realized what was happening here, he was being dragged along by an ANBU operative, dragged away from the huge beast. His heart nearly stopped as he realized what it meant. He knew why Kushina's birth had to be outside the village. Had something gone wrong?

It had to be. This creature tearing apart the village, it was the unleashed Kyūbi.

"Not quite," the boy said under his breath, his eyes blazing red.

* * *

Kakashi's blood felt like it solidified to ice in his veins as those slit pupils focused on him, and he forced the feeling aside. Chakra licked at everything around the boy, bubbled and burst across Naruto's skin. This wasn't Naruto. This was the Nine-Tailed Fox looking through his eyes, and it was _smiling_. Had Naruto lost control of his Tailed Beast? Now, even after all the assurances that he was fine, that he could control it?

A kunai appeared in Kakashi's hand in a second as he stared wide-eyed at the monstrosity before him. It didn't matter _why _right now, what mattered was what to do about this development. Shino was dying or already dead, and the Kyūbi had a hand on him, literally. He could not easily save him from harm. But, there were others. Sakura and Sasuke were behind him somewhere; they most likely did not know about Naruto's status as a jinchūriki at all. They would not get involved if he could help it, and he would not let the creature anywhere near them.

"You're the Kyūbi,_" _Kakashi said slowly.

The fox in Naruto's body glanced at Shino's body below his hand for an instant, and his chakra began to ooze outwards down his arm and onto the boy's chest. It was not quite bubbling anymore as it first had, but the angry red still flowed like a wildfire. Shino clearly tried to scream: Even unconscious, the pain had to horrendous. Eerily, there was no sound.

"Hatake Kakashi."

The fox knew his name. Kakashi was not sure what to make of that, but at least he had its attention. The creature was still bent over in Naruto's body, so perhaps it could not move yet; that was an advantage. If he stayed between the angry beast and the rest of his team, the fox most likely would not care to attack them.

"Let Naruto go," Kakashi snapped, blocking off sight to Sasuke and Sakura. Both were stretched out on the ground, possibly unconscious or hiding from the dreaded chakra that filled the air. The Kyūbi's presence was intense, and the only reason Kakashi didn't visibly react was because he had been here before, he had felt this before. He pulled up his hitai-ate, exposing his Sharingan. "You can't have him."

"So sentimental, _sensei,_" the fox whispered. "You, with the stolen eye, ripped from your closest friend's skull. Pathetically trying to live up to a failure." He sniffed. "Tell me, Hatake, do you believe in _destiny_?"

Kakashi shuddered. It was talking to him, and he was not sure how to take the revelation that it was intelligent, that the creature was capable of conversation. He knew it was a creature of hate, but to be so cold and calculating as well? He remembered talking about it, long ago, when his sensei was still around; Kushina had spoken to the fox, and all she had gotten in return was hate and bile.

Kakashi kept his kunai out, trying to find a solution to this mess. There was one that came to mind, but it was not an appealing one. Killing Naruto to prevent the creature from escaping had to be his last choice. Keeping the fox talking might work, though. If there was an internal conflict, it could allow Naruto to get back in control. The seal was not broken yet, at least; Kakashi could see it shining from beneath the boy's clothes. "What do you mean?" he asked warily.

"Destiny. That the world's end is predetermined," Kyūbi said slowly. "That all will come to the same end, no matter the actions of those who suffer through it. Do you think that is how it works?"

Kakashi frowned darkly. "No, I don't. Now, let him go. You don't want to die, and if you try to escape-"

"You'll do _what? _You'll kill me?" The fox chuckled as he glanced back at Shino's body. A shudder ran through Kakashi as he took in the eerie expression on Naruto's face that the fox forced it to take on. It looked almost… hungry. "Interesting… He used the connection," the Kyūbi muttered.

"I will _not_ let you go free," Kakashi said coldly. "If that requires Naruto's…. death, then so be it. He would understand the necessity of preserving the village's safety."

The fox smiled and shook his head. "Going against your own principles, huh? Placing the mission before your comrades, does that make you lower than trash?"

Kakashi flinched back. "Shut up."

The Kyūbi chuckled. "I know why this is. You say you trust the boy, but you don't. Not really. You're the same as all the others. Stuck in the past, resentful of me and vicariously of my jailor. You might intellectually disagree with that, but your heart tells you differently, doesn't it? You _blame_ him."

"I _don't_."

"You blame him for the death of the damnable Fourth Hokage." The Kyūbi shook his head. "Naruto embodies much of what you remember, and you resent him for it, isn't that true? He stole your sensei's place, did he not? Now he seeks to overthrow even that grand reputation with his own. And, though you will not admit it, you blame _me_ for your own failing as well."

Kakashi's lightning-quick punch glanced off Naruto's jaw and the Kyūbi just smiled. The creature's burning chakra had destroyed most of his glove, and the hit didn't seem to have much effect. He launched his kunai forward with the other hand. "You're dead wrong." He aimed the blunt end of the kunai towards the possessed Naruto's skull, right at the temple. With the right amount of force, he should be able to deal a knock-out blow.

The Kyūbi, however, did not agree. The fox brought up his free hand with incredible speed, latching his fingers solidly around Kakashi's wrist. For a brief moment the Kyūbi's chakra burned like the sun and the scorching pain almost sent Kakashi to his knees; then it was gone.

The two met eyes for a long moment. They faced off, red eye against red eye, with Naruto's hand clasped tightly around Kakashi's wrist. "You deny destiny, yet you would kill its shaper? You are a fool." The fox loosened his grip, and then opened his hand. "Do not repeat the mistake you have made before. You will regret it."

Kakashi jumped back towards Sasuke and Sakura's direction, kunai still in his hand. This did not make any sense. If it was the creature in control, why did it let him live? If it were Naruto in control, why didn't he give a sign? The chakra had burned him, he had felt it, but the skin was unblemished now, if a little tender. That should not have been possible.

Shino's body trembled under the wash of demonic chakra, and Kakashi stared with apprehension at the boy's painful grimace and twitching muscles. He wasn't burning up, not yet, but whatever the fox was doing could not possibly be good for him.

"You're… a mixture of the fox and Naruto, aren't you?" Kakashi inquired slowly, rubbing his wrist.

The fox snorted humourlessly. "The brat would probably feel insulted at such a comment." He stared down on Shino with a grimace. Slowly its eyes edged back to Kakashi. "There are worse things than me, Hatake. Far worse things. Pray that you never come across them. Few of them would have the presence of mind to… plan ahead. To consider consequences. Some would consume the world, if they had their chance. Some of them are monsters in human form."

The last of Kyūbi's chakra finally bubbled away, until only a little stream remained, emanating from the palm that was still on Shino's chest. The Kyūbi straightened a little, taking in a deep, long breath. It looked almost calm for a moment, as if it was enjoying the moment for its own sake, as if the mere act of breathing was some long-forgotten memory. Perhaps it was, for the creature. It had been sealed for many years, now.

"What happened to Naruto? Is he still in there?" Kakashi asked, not sure if he would get an answer. It did not seem like the Kyūbi was going to break out; it seemed almost pensive. Had it overtaken the body entirely?

"The boy is an idiot," the fox murmured after a time. "To allow me this freedom, to allow me to move within the world once more, even in this diminished state…" He was silent for a time. "He is indeed a fool. Does that make me one as well, for answering his request…? We are in an illustrious company of failures, it seems." He closed his eyes.

A soft voice spoke up suddenly from behind Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei? _Naruto_?"

Kakashi twitched as his and the Kyūbi's eyes slid over to Sakura, who had slowly approached the two and looked uneasily between the two. Sasuke was behind her, his Sharingan blazing with two tomoe in each eye, staring at Kyūbi as if he had seen a ghost. Both looked horrible, their skin oily and their eyes fevered.

The fox laughed.

* * *

Naruto panted as his whole body fought against the influx of the Kyūbi's chakra, washing over everything and anything like a tidal wave. For a second there, he thought he had been behind the bars of the cage, locked into his own seal, with the Kyūbi smiling menacingly from the outside. That was not true, thankfully: He was in a place that had no walls or floor that he could see, though he was standing on _something_. It was white all around.

He recognized this place. This was where he would retreat when Kurama took over, where he had spoken to both his parets. Some section of his brain seemed to be set aside like this, some core of his being that the fox could not touch. He liked to imagine it was what some people called the soul.

Even though he was here, he could sense what happened outside, vaguely. Kakashi-sensei was there, saying something in a sharp tone, his Sharingan exposed. He seemed almost to move in slow-motion, as if everything in his head was running at top speed and the world could not keep up.

Trusting Kurama to this extent, Naruto realized, was probably a bad idea. Still, he remembered all too well that as a Genin in his original life, bad ideas were practically his trademark, second only to making such bad ideas work. Kurama was as vicious as he ever was, Naruto had no doubt about that, but he was certainly not stupid. Even if he knew he had a decent chance of crushing a few people on a rampage, Kurama would realize that it was counterproductive. He would die at Kakashi's hand if he tried anything, and he could take a decade or more to reform. By that time, Akatsuki would be ready for him.

For now, for better or worse, putting some trust in his jinchūriki was the intelligent option. If that meant doing a little emergency healing in exchange for a whiff of fresh air, he would probably do it without too many complaints; Naruto was certain of it. Kurama was helping for the wrong reasons, true, but at least he was helping. Perhaps that alone could mend some of the hate in the beast's heart.

Naruto jerked in surprise when he realized that he could sense more than just the outside. In the way that he usually felt his own limbs, his own body, he felt someone else's lungs, someone else's struggling heart. He winced as a flash of pain travelled through him, but it wasn't in his own body at all. Instead it was in the body that was attached to him through his… hand?

"Shino," he whispered in realization. "I can sense _Shino_."

It made sense, Naruto realized. Kurama's chakra served as a connection between himself and the boy. It was almost like the two bodies were connected, and through that connection, Kurama's healing ability was transferred. Yet, it was more than just a physical link, extending his own healing beyond himself. He was in this whiteness right now, but he swore it felt as if he could turn a corner, and walk into…

Between one blink and the next, the world changed entirely. Gone was blank void. He stood in a dimly lit hallway, meticulously maintained and decorated, with a towering glass roof above it. If it weren't for a few twinkling stars, he would have thought it was just painted black. The walls, on both sides, were covered with huge decorated plaques with thousands of insects pinned to them in neat rows. There was everything from tiny beetles to butterflies the size of his hand, with little worm-like creatures and mantises. Some of them looked just like leaves, or twigs, and there were hundreds, if not thousands, all around him.

The hallway ended only a little ways ahead, opening up into a gigantic hall with a little peaceful garden in the middle of it, a single tree hanging low over a small pool of water with hundreds of little insects zooming over the surface. The grass around the pool was yellowed, the soil a little dry, and perched on that soil with a plaque in his hand, wearing the same high-collared jacket that he always did, was Shino.

Naruto stepped forward with care, taking in the remarkable beauty of this place, and realized that this had to be a representation of the boy's mind. Unlike his own mind, which managed serenity by being completely empty, this was a more organized peace. The whole place felt very orderly, as if someone had meticulously arranged everything just so, with only this little garden sticking out as something more natural.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto stepped closer to the garden, frowning at the edges that were turning from yellow to brown. That did not seem like a good sign. "Shino."

The boy stood up very slowly, adjusting the collar that always seemed to cover half his face. "So… it is you that found me. I am surprised that it is your team that was sent to assist my own, because I was under the impression that you and Sasuke would be a troubling combination." He frowned. "You are not a figment of my cruel imagination, are you?"

"No, I'm real. " Naruto sighed, dropping onto the grass next to the pool. "And those problems between us are overstated. Lighten up a little. At least _someone _came for you, right?" He pointed vaguely over his shoulder. "I'm sort of healing you right now, by the way. So if you feel weird, you know what it's from…"

Shino looked at him with a raised eyebrow, adjusting his glasses. "…I see."

"You do know where you are, right?" He glanced around. "This bug house of yours? You know what it is?"

"I have come to the conclusion that it is a gateway from here to the other world," Shino said after a while, sounding vaguely wistful. "Why, you ask? Because when I came here, this place was alive, but it is slowly becoming darker, and quieter. The water is inviting, but I do not care to swim, so I have chosen to sit here and think on what occurred. Perhaps I will move on, later." He frowned. "Does that mean that you, too, are in the throes of death?"

"I hope not," Naruto muttered. "If I am, I'll have words with a certain over-sized ball of hair."

Shino sighed. "Even now, you remain a peculiar one with strange comments."

"You're not dead yet, Shino. Don't think like that," Naruto said at last. "I'm healing you, as I said. You can't heal the dead. In a few minutes, hopefully, you will start feeling better again. As for this place, this bug museum… It is your own representation of your mind." He glanced at the pool. "If I'm right, then the pool is what you would call your soul. The last piece to go."

"My _mind_?" Shino frowned. "My deduction seemed accurate."

"Take it from an expert," Naruto said, smiling warmly. "Your mind seems more inviting than my own, really. I suppose that means you're more stable." He snickered. "I can't argue with that. You always were the structured thinker, and the untiringly loyal one."

"…Always? I appreciate the compliment, but we have scarcely interacted."

"That's only because you never care to interact with most people, right?" Naruto asked knowingly. "You never treated me weirdly, or not weirder than you treat anyone else, at least. I thought those bugs of yours were creepy at first, but I got over it. I never really thought about that fact, it was just sort of there. Shino, the dependable one."

"You were… scared off by my kikai?" Shino frowned. He stretched out his arm, but no bugs appeared from his sleeves. "It seems as though they, too, are perishing. Unfortunate." He turned to Naruto suddenly. "Will the chakra burn them, as well?"

Naruto blinked. "Sorry?"

"You are using the Kyūbi's chakra to attempt to heal me," Shino said matter-of-factly. "Will it kill the last of my kikai?"

"…Probably," Naruto said, not sure how to take Shino's casual mention of the fox inside him, as if it was common knowledge. "You know about the Kyūbi?"

"Yes, I do," Shino replied, frowning. "My kikai have long tasted the chakra of every person in our class. Yours was atypical in some ways. I concluded after studying the nature of this chakra that it had to come from a non-human source. Why? Because it is generated from a separate place than your own chakra, which my bugs were able to deduce. The place from which the chakra emanated is marked with a seal. The conclusion was self-evident from that point."

"Huh." Naruto shook his head, bemused. "How long have you known?"

"Since our fourth month at the academy."

Naruto smiled sadly. "Figures that someone else would figure out before even I did. I didn't know about the fox until I graduated, you know. It was a pretty startling discovery." He glanced up. "Wait, if you knew all along, why didn't you treat me differently? Like all the adults do?"

Shino raised an eyebrow. "I do not see how the creature is relevant. You have done nothing to harm the village, or me personally."

Naruto blinked slowly. "Well, what do you know? You're a stand-up guy, Shino."

"I am an Aburame; of course I am," Shino replied, and a slight smile peeked over his collar. "Considering you appear to be attempting to heal me using the very fox's chakra, it seems that there are some advantages to the arrangement."

Naruto shrugged, but froze when a shudder went through the bug house, a slight tremor that rattled the plaques on the walls. Naruto realized that the stream of chakra that had been pouring in, and the vaguely reddish glow that seemed to flow behind his eyes, had suddenly vanished into nothingness. There was still a trickle, a little connection. His trail back to his own body.

He stood up, and frowned. Though Shino's pond was still clean and tidy, with insects skating over the surface, the plants around it had almost totally rotten away. The tree seemed like it had survived the worst of winters, the grass was dark brown and hanging limply. Even the last starlight, if that's what it had been, had vanished. He had not even noticed it happen.

"I think it's about time you get your body back, bug-boy," Naruto noted as he dragged Shino up by the arm.

Shino looked around. "…Everything is dead here. I doubt that is what constitutes health."

"It's dead, but only if you believe it to be," Naruto said. He reached out to the plaque with bugs that Shino was still holding. Very carefully he pulled off one of the largest butterflies, removing the little pin from is midsection and stabbing it back where it came from. "You know what they say about the flap of a butterfly's wings, don't you?"

Shino raised an eyebrow. "Yes… you are referring to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause or alter a storm, far away. I do not see how it is relevant to our situation."

Naruto smiled, holding up the butterfly, and for a moment it seemed as if the world came alive around him, as a spark of natural chakra travelled through him. Very gingerly the insect moved, and Shino's breath caught. It managed to work its way upright, its wings slowly flapping once as its feelers worked overtime. Then, it took off. "What do you think, Shino? Did I just alter the path of events? Can I change the path of a storm with that, or prevent it altogether? What do you think?"

The world shifted, changed.

* * *

Shino and Naruto found themselves on a hilltop covered in trees, next to a little dirt trail that wound itself upwards towards distant peaks. Before Naruto could wonder what happened to the bug house, people came up the path. Familiar people.

Kurenai walked in front, a large backpack over her shoulder and a smaller one at her waist, dragging slightly whenever she put a step forward. A second Shino followed her closely, possibly carrying even more supplies than she did. Kiba and Hinata came up the trail a little behind those two; Kiba carried Akamaru, and Hinata held a collection of water bottles connected by a string, which tapped softly together.

"This…"

Naruto followed the group with a pensive expression. "This must be a memory." He paused as he felt the finger he had just held a butterfly with. "I think each of the insects in that bug house of yours is one of them, actually. Pretty neat. Of course, the board you were holding only held your latest memories, the significant ones. This is a few days ago, I imagine. A significant memory. And for some reason, we're sort of like ghosts here." He shoved his hand right through a treelimb. "Weird."

"If this is indeed a memory, that is unsurprising," Shino observed. "We should continue our pursuit. If these are recent memories, perhaps they can help us deduce who was responsible for my wounds."

"If this is indeed a memory, that is unsurprising," Shino observed. "We should continue our pursuit. If these are recent memories, perhaps they can help us deduce who was responsible for my wounds."

"You don't know?"

Shino shook his head. "I was incapacitated first, I believe, before I could ascertain the identity of our attacker. I was attempting to confirm the position of our attacker when something impacted my shoulder, even though I had placed a bug clone in plain sight." He winced, rubbing his shoulder, though there was no visible wound. "I only remember flashes after that. I returned to consciousness to find myself paralyzed."

"Yeah… I'm afraid you lost that arm you're holding," Naruto said bluntly. "I'm not sure if you're getting it back, either."

Shino was silent for a long time. "My arm would be an unfortunate loss, but not absolutely debilitating, considering my skill-set. The death of my colony could well be, since it might be years before a new one adapts to me. Unlike many of my senior clansmen, I do not yet have a colony so large that it requires a secondary hive at my home."

"I can't promise anything," Naruto said. "I don't know if any of the bugs survived so far, let alone after healing you. Honestly, I'm more worried about keeping you alive, and I think your family would agree."

Shino nodded, though he looked very subdued. Naruto decided to stop bothering him for a bit, focusing on the group before him, still making their way through the bush.

"Sensei, how many miles do we still have to go? My feet are killing me, and I think Akamaru's getting tired too!" Kiba exclaimed.

"You're carrying him, how's he getting tired?" Kurenai asked with a smile. "Don't worry. We've only a dozen more miles to cross before we're back at base. We should be glad that we had no contacts this time around, you know. No bandits is good."

"It seems embarrassing now, that we called for help," Kiba replied. "I mean, here you had like fifty of these bandits, and then suddenly they vanish into thin air?"

"Twenty," Kurenai corrected. "They disappeared from our methods of detection, but that only means that these people found a better place to hide. They're still harassing the nearby villages, and there's probably a dozen or more that we haven't seen. We will track them down eventually, preferably before they notice us."

The present-day Shino prodded Naruto in the arm. "We should move ahead a little. We may be able to spot the attacker there, before they assaulted my team."

"…Did you spot them from here? Because you can't just walk ahead and peek. That's not how memories work." He glanced over his shoulder. "Look behind you. The forest's completely frozen. These are your memories, Shino. Only the things you sense will be here. The rest is just noise. Something your brain made up to fill in the blanks."

"…That is a disconcerting notion. It appears I must focus on my sensory perception, if I leave such large gaps of observation."

The group made their way through the next copse of trees, and Hinata suddenly twitched. "Ah… Shino-san? Could you send out your insects, please? My Byakugan…" She frowned. "There is something like a blind spot at the edge of my range. It's straight ahead…"

The memory Shino tensed, and he adjusted his glasses. "Kurenai-sensei. Possible encounter."

Kurenai stopped walking immediately. "Right. Hinata's eyes are better than any of ours. If she says that there's someone out there, then I believe her. Kiba, get back in formation."

Kiba sighed. "Come on, I haven't smelled anything but some deer and a rabbit."

"The wise course of action is caution, when not all senses agree," Shino noted. "If there is an enemy in our vicinity that is capable of cloaking themselves from all but the Byakugan, this implies that it is a shinobi, not a bandit."

Kurenai already had a kunai in her hand as she gazed into the forest. "Stay behind me, should anything happen. Keep an eye out for enemies, all of you. This could be bad."

"Of course." Shino answered shortly.

"Sensei, why are you so worried? You're a Jōnin, right? You can kick ass!" Kiba commented. Slowly he set Akamaru down as he sniffed the air.

"Just... do it." Kurenai said tersely, stepping close to her students as she looked up into the trees.

"...I can't see anything, though," Hinata volunteered carefully. "It was there for a moment, but then it went away again. Strange…"

The current Shino stepped through his past self, taking a moment to orient himself. "This is where I stood when the attack began, when I switched out with my clone. I remember this moment very clearly. The next: Not at all. I was looking up on the distant trees when there was a sound."

Naruto frowned. "I don't hear anything." He paused. "Wait… you mean that buzzing? What is it?"

"Infrasound," Shino said shortly. "It is sound too low for normal human hearing, though I am capable of sensing it. Why is that? Because my kikai bugs transfer their own sensory perceptions to me, which allows me to hear it through them. I assume you are hearing it because I remembered it. The sound is often created by a shinobi who travels very softly; as such sounds cannot be detected by most. It is a frequency that their techniques do not block."

"Maybe," Naruto muttered. "Where's the attacker coming from?"

Shino pointed in the general direction of his younger self's gaze. "The bug-clone has already been placed. My true self is approximately four feet up and perched on the second large limb of this tree." He tapped on the bark to his side. "Thankfully, my insects allow me to receive more than merely sound perceptions. This is how I coordinate my attacks."

"Did they catch a glimpse of the attacker?"

"If they were able to, then I should remember. Since my conscious recollection of this moment is less than satisfactory, perhaps this unconscious element might fill in what I missed." Shino frowned. "I remember… the colour blue."

Just as Shino said it, there was a flash of blue from ahead. The team seemed to move very slowly, as if wading through molasses, and Naruto realized that he received some of the perceptions that the bugs had, far simpler but quicker than a human mind. He saw the memories that were created by the sensory perceptions of Shino himself, as well as his insects that seemed connected to him in a similar way to his own Kage Bunshin. Bugs had high speed of perception; this is how they avoided flyswatters, after all.

The flash of blue was, as it turned out, a piece of clothing. The charging attacker was strangely deformed; some parts of his body were crystal clear, while others were vague or stretched out. The bugs had perceived some things, but not all, and Shino had a poor view through the leaves, which distorted what remained. This was as close as the memory would get, Naruto presumed. The man, probably in his thirties, and wearing a long blue shawl tied around his neck, seemed vaguely familiar to him. He couldn't place what he could see of his face, nor the odd garb he wore. He wore a hitai-ate strapped to the his shoulder, depicting two boulders with a horizontal slash cut through them. An Iwa Missing-Nin, then.

The enemy ninja's hand was stretched out before him; all but the fingertips were covered by a white glove. He seemed to be grasping for Shino specifically, and Naruto wondered for a moment why that would be. Kurenai was the Jōnin, and certainly the greatest immediate threat to any enemy. Was he simply going to make an example out of one of the Genin to scare Kurenai?

The man's weapon shot out quickly, even when the world moved turgidly slow. It was a circular blade, almost half a foot in diameter. A poisoned one, Naruto realized, since the toxic solution applied to it glistened slightly.

The weapon found its way towards Shino's position, curving in mid-air, as if it sought body heat. At the last moment, Kurenai's hand appeared in the way, knocking the barrelling weapon aside, but she was just a moment too late. Though the cutting edge had been diverted from the course that would have beheaded Shino, it still hit him right on the shoulder.

Shino watched in horror as his past self's arm simply fell off, neatly cut away. His memory opened his mouth to scream, but the only sound that could be heard was like that of rushing water. The sound of blood rushing in his veins, Naruto realized. Shino couldn't remember any other sound from this moment.

The attacker passed by Kurenai's assault and reached out towards Hinata with his hand, not even balling it to his fist; it seemed almost as if he was trying to use the Gentle Fist, though ineptly. Hinata responded with a targeted attack, far more focused than Naruto remembered from her. This was Hinata in a crisis, then: All business. Her attack hit the man on his hand, and for a moment Naruto was sure it had worked. Then Hinata's forearm suddenly seemed to explode from within. A dozen wounds opened up along her forearm and blood sprayed as she screamed silently. She toppled over, probably unconscious from the nerve damage's sudden shock.

Akamaru attacked, but he was easily swept aside; the man's hand slammed around and into Kurenai, who looked wide-eyed as she fell backwards, her hand grasping at her stomach, where the attack had hit. Kiba tried to slash viciously at the enemy, but it did not work either; the image faded as Kiba fell out of view. Shino had lost sight of everyone.

The world turned darker as the memory's Shino toppled out of his tree like a dead weight, rolling down the hill and ending up spread-eagle in a shallow alcove. Darkness took over only moments later, bugs crawling across his body in a panic, some of them taking flight and buzzing around in a cloud, as if protecting the fallen boy.

"…I see," Shino said as he stood over his unconscious self, the only part of the memory that was not total darkness. "So that is what happened."

"We found you in that ditch," Naruto said, frowning darkly. "Did you see what I saw? That man, the attacker, he went for you _specifically_. He threw his blade directly at your hidden position, instead of going for Kurenai-sensei. Why did he do it?" He paced. "You are a Genin, there was no way this guy was anywhere in your team's league."

Shino frowned. "My team is not inconsequential, and I do not appreciate the negative comments."

"That's not what I meant. That guy had a reason to attack you," Naruto said. "What did you do? Is he some enemy of the Aburame clan, maybe? Does he hold some personal grudge? No, I would have expected him to at least address you, if that was the case. It seemed like he just wanted to kill you, to get you out of the way. He treated you like you were the most dangerous member on your team."

"My destruction bug's ability to drain chakra can be debilitating on any ninja," Shino said.

"You haven't tried me yet," Naruto muttered. "_Maybe_ that's what's going on, but I don't think so. This guy had to be as fast as Kakashi, so that pretty much makes him a B-rank or A-rank, and he outmanoeuvred Kurenai-sensei without any trouble. Why would he go for a _Genin_ instead of a Jōnin? Unless you had some advantage that could stop him cold…" Naruto stopped, narrowing his eyes. "The attack on Hinata, what was that about? It was like he used the Gentle Fist, but from the _inside._"

"Impossible," Shino said. "Interfering with internal chakra would be rejected by the chakra circulatory system, and hurt the one attempting to intercede. That is why there are only very few techniques that allow for chakra to flow between different people. It is also why medical techniques are so very delicate."

"But he did do it," Naruto noted. "It was like he turned the Gentle Fist back on her, and he tossed Kurenai-sensei around like a ragdoll. This guy means business. Why have I never heard of him?" He shook his head. "We're done here. Let's go."

The memory flickered and gave way.

* * *

They were back in the bug house, and Naruto tried to recall every detail that he could of the memory he had seen, for later reference. The face he had seen was unclear, but he recognized _something _about it_._ It felt like he had seen it before, long ago.

Shino gazed at him with a curious expression, and Naruto realized that the boy was actually impressed with him for his observations. First impressions, he supposed. Then the put the plaque down on his knees as he sat with his legs crossed at the water's edge. "It seems that you intend to rescue my teammates, if they are still alive. I will assist."

Naruto smiled. "Of course I'm going after the others; they didn't seem as badly hurt as you, so hopefully they were just taken captive. I'll see if I can convince Kakashi to go after this guy, and take him out. I don't think you'll be up for any such activity for a while, though."

Shino shook his head sadly, and the plaque upon his lap sprang to life. Every insect worked its way free from it, pins vanishing before they could even hit the dirt. Grass erupted from the parched earth around Shino ripples travelled across the pond, and the insects there began to flurry about once more.

Before Naruto could fully process the revitalization, there was suddenly sunlight. The black sky faded away, and clear light shone through the glass ceiling, illuminating the ordered rows of plaques along the halls. The floor shimmered with dancing reflections. Every insect on every plaque came alive, and the whole bug house filled with activity once again.

"…Thank you, Uzumaki Naruto," Shino said. "It seems I am recovering."

"You're welcome. Believe me when I say that I won't let my comrades die," Naruto said, smiling broadly. Beside him, the lone tree that had seemed utterly dead burst into full bloom.

* * *

"Stay back, Sasuke, Sakura." Kakashi stepped back from Naruto's prone form. "I mean it. He's dangerous, _very _dangerous."

"It is done," Kyūbi said, very slowly standing up. Chakra still blazed around him, licking at his skin like flames, though it did not burn. In places it turned almost yellow, and strange dark markings appeared momentarily, before they vanished again. "All that is required now, is time."

"You're the Nine-Tails," Sasuke said, shivering. "Aren't you?"

"One does not need the Sharingan to observe such an obvious fact," Kyūbi replied dryly, turning to Sasuke. "Those eyes are a sign of your forsaken ancestry. You are not at all unlike one from the longest time ago, who lost his honour to his own brother... Uchiha Izuna."

Sasuke shivered. "…And you expect me to know that person?"

The Kyūbi snarled and faltered suddenly, chakra receding. "It appears… that my time here has come to an end." He focused on Sasuke suddenly, the last of its chakra forming the shape of his head around Naruto's own. "I may not see you again, Uchiha, but I warn you… Don't… kill Naruto. You'll end up… regretting…"

The chakra vanished, and Naruto collapsed to his knees, wavering a little. His eyes rolled around in their sockets, trying to find some stability. Finally, they found Kakashi as his body sagged to the side and he caught himself.

"…Hi."

"Naruto?" Kakashi stepped closer. "Is that… you?"

"…I should have warned you about that, I think," Naruto muttered with an awkward chuckle, as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Didn't think you would freak out this much… You look like you pissed yourself there. So does Sakura, actually..."

Naruto rolled over with a wince, taking in Shino's slow but steady breathing. The seal had dropped off on its own, his chest healed entirely. There were slight chakra burns, but they would vanish in time. Most remarkable of all, perhaps: a thin, rather weak-looking arm lay where before there was only a stump. Its muscles were untrained, its skin untouched by the sun, and it would take time before Shino could use it properly again, but he had it. "He actually came through…"

"_He_, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, eyes narrowing. "How much do you listen to that creature? You nearly got us all killed. Do you know how close you came to breaking your seal?" He looked behind him. "You scared your team members half to death with that... outbreak."

"I didn't come close to breaking the seal," Naruto said sharply. "The fox didn't force his way out at all; I let it out, a little. It was the only way this could work." He winced. "The Kyūbi desires freedom, and he got some here. He desires other things too, though, things that he won't even admit. Those are the things which caused him to avoid harming you, which made him heal to the best of his ability, while he was under no obligation to do so." He smiled. "Kakashi… I think I finally understand what it is to be a proper jinchūriki."

"The… K-Kyūbi…" Sakura shivered, her eyes wide.

"It is sealed within me," Naruto confirmed, slowly sitting upright. "I wanted to tell you, in time, but…" He sighed as he shook his head. "I suppose that ship has sailed, now."

"You used that thing to activate my Sharingan," Sasuke observed. He stared at the seal that was still visible on his stomach; most of Naruto's jacket was simply gone, burned up by the intense chakra.

"It just added another tomoe just now, I think," Naruto said with a brief grin. "Yes, I did use that power. The Kyūbi... he's got a lot of hate. But, I think, he's capable of working through it just like anyone else. He just has it a little worse for the Uchiha. No offense."

Sasuke shrugged. "It seemed to dislike my family. The feeling is mutual."

Naruto snorted. "The stupid fox is safely in his cage, don't worry about that. The seal will keep him in as long as I wish." He tapped his stomach where the shape still stood out. "He's a bit mad that I called him stupid just now, but I think that's offset by his moment of fresh air. He didn't say anything too weird, did he?" Naruto grimaced. "He had a tendency to say confusing and menacing stuff. I think I caught most of it, but…"

Kakashi ran a hand through his hair tiredly, looking decidedly worn down. "It seems that our first C-rank-"

"- Isn't over yet," Naruto cut him off immediately. "Sasuke, you brought a Bingo Book, right? Can you get it for me? It's important."

Sasuke frowned, but slowly lowered the bag that he still had slung over his shoulder, and rifled through it. "Why? What's it for?"

"I know about Team 8's attacker." He glanced over to the unconscious boy. It would probably be hours to even days before he would get over the mental stress of nearly dying. "Don't ask how I know right now, it's complicated. There are butterflies involved."

Sasuke looked at him oddly, but thankfully he didn't seem particularly upset right then, about the revelation. Maybe he had already theorized something like this from the one time he was exposed to the beast's Killing Intent. Naruto grabbed the Bingo Book from his hands, flipping through the pages.

"I could have sworn that I'd seen the guy before, but I didn't know where. Then I realized that he was a Missing-Nin, and you can find a list of those in a very specific place." He flipped on, past a whole collection of shinobi he would rather never meet, then suddenly stopped. "…That's him."

This hadn't been in his own Bingo Book, the one that he brought to the Genin exam. That one contained his father, and a young Kakashi, but not this guy. No, he remembered this guy from way earlier. This had been in his first life, when he had just started on his three-year journey with Pervy Sage.

'_So why are you crossing all these names out of your little book?' Naruto asked._

'_Because they're dead,' Jiraiya said, frowning. 'What do they teach you brats these days? They're Missing-Nin, other shinobi go out and hunt them down, and get cash in reward. Most of these are weak ones, so they get taken out easily. I have to keep it up to date, so I know what kind of people I can run into out there.'_

'_Hmmm, so what about this guy…?' Naruto pointed at a small picture of a tall man with bright eyes and a long blue shawl. 'There's an A drawn on his shirt, what does that mean? A-rank?'_

'…_No. That means Akatsuki.'_

_Naruto blinked. 'He is one of the ones that are trying to hunt down... people like me?'_

'_You don't have to worry about that one anymore,' Jiraiya said, smiling slightly. 'I took care of that one with my own hands, actually. That was before I even met you. Tricky fellow, but I tricked him, and that was that. You can cross him out, he's on the bottom of the river somewhere.'_

'_Hah, Pervy Sage, are you sure you killed this one yourself? Aren't you a little old for that?'_

"Akatsuki," Naruto mouthed, paling. "Kakashi-sensei, we _need_ to get Kurenai and the others back, and quickly. If this guy's involved with the people I think he is…" He shook his head. "Sasuke, can you keep an eye out for foreign chakra? Hinata was the first to spot something for the others. Hopefully your eyes are more useful here. Sakura, you're responsible for checking Shino. I think the Kyūbi's chakra burned his internal chakra system because it forcefully invaded, so he's probably defenceless now. I think he needs to heal up for a week or two before he does any fighting again."

The two nodded, apparently glad that they could do something, anything, to get rid of the tense atmosphere that still dominated the group. Kakashi's eyes had not wavered one bit, still focused on Naruto.

"Kakashi… flip down the hitai-ate," Naruto said as he slowly stood up. "Man, I feel like I've been to one of Maito Gai's training courses… all my muscles feel like they're on fire. Damn fox." He stretched painfully. "Hey, I _said _to cover that damn eye. Can't have you fainting here."

Kakashi slowly shoved down the hitai-ate. "…This will have consequences, you understand? Severe ones?"

"Of course it will," Naruto said wearily. "Can we save all the threats and condemnations and interrogations until after we get Team 8 safely back from enemy hands? I just got Shino back from the brink of death, and there's three people still out there, two of which, at least, are hurt. Akamaru too, I suppose. I know our enemy, and I've got his data here in the Bingo Book. He's an A-rank Jōnin."

"_Way_ out of a Genin team's league," Kakashi noted.

Naruto scoffed. "This is _your_ team we're talking about. Besides, he was afraid of _Shino. _Afraid enough to try and kill him first, before even going for Kurenai. I assume he didn't have trouble breaking her Genjutsu, but he's probably much worse at fighting Ninjutsu, and he's covered up his weakness by always using surprise tactics to take such people out first. That's why he knocked out Shino, I think. In case you forgot, both of us specialize in Ninjutsu, so we have an edge."

"We cannot go chasing after some Missing-Nin on your word alone!" Kakashi snapped. "Much less after that stunt you pulled just now. Invoking the Kyūbi's chakra, its _spirit_, right in front of your team, without even telling anyone? Did anyone even know you could do that? Do you know how much it scared me to think that the creature was breaking free?"

"Enough to sock me in the jaw," Naruto muttered. "I felt that, you know. Don't take the fox's words too seriously, by the way. He likes to think the worst of people; even himself."

"You speak to that _thing_," Kakashi said. "You speak to the _Kyūbi_. How do I know that it hasn't taken over already?"

"_Him," _Naruto corrected. "I speak to it, but it's not in control. Our minds are separate, but I would be a fool to dismiss his knowledge. The Kyūbi is an ancient creature, Kakashi. He is older than the village, old enough to have personally known the Sage of the Six Paths, to have seen all the ages of the shinobi world. He told me I might be a little bit like that man, you know." He smiled. "He doesn't really trust me, not yet. But there's a beginning there. None of his previous jinchūriki could claim to control him even a little. I don't really control him at all, in the way that you saw it, but cooperation is key here. He was free to act through me, only tempered by my will, by the limitations that I placed upon him." He glanced down at the man's wrist. "He healed you as well, didn't he? There is some good in him. Kurama is more than just another monster."

Kakashi rubbed his wrist slowly. "You... know the beast's name. Nobody has been able..." He shook his head. "This does not change anything, Naruto. You're a _Genin_. A Genin that's treading all over the laws of the village."

"It doesn't change anything, you say?" Naruto cocked his head to the side. "You know how fast I heal, sensei. You've seen a hint of it just now. You know that the Kyūbi's power is at my disposal, at least a little. You know that I am capable of seriously powerful jutsu and I'm up there with the rest. With _that_ chakra searing through my body, I am quick enough to catch your quickest punch. I am powerful enough to lock you in place with my hand alone. When I do that, I'm Jōnin-level. We can do this." He tapped his hitai-ate and winked. "Besides, I'm still the commander. Or are you going to relieve me from command for the crime of saving Shino's life and career?"

"ANBU are already heading this way," Kakashi said. "They're the type to deal with these things. I sent a messenger dog earlier, when we found the body. It will reach Konoha in a day, and the ANBU will not take long to reach us. Maybe two or three days."

"That's too long, and you know it." Naruto shook his head resolutely. "If any of the others are even half as hurt as Shino, they won't last. If we wait much longer, any kind of trail will be too cold to follow. We're only about forty miles from the border with Rain, and we _really_ don't want to follow them in there, in case that's where they're headed. We need to cut them off, and soon. Perhaps he is travelling alone, in which case we can outright assassinate him with your technique. Alternatively, he could be a local powerhouse, and took out Team 8 to protect his turf. If that is true, we need to find this guy's base of operations."

"…And how do you intend we do that?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I did tell you that my stealth is advanced, right? My Kage Bunshin will scour everything, keeping out of sight. I will find the enemy, and figure out whether or not Team 8 is alive, and where they or their remains are kept." He was proud for not stuttering in that cold assessment. "Sasuke, Sakura, and I will form a distraction that can retaliate with powerful attacks if necessary, since nobody will expect a Genin team to have at least two members that are quite powerful for the rank. If this guy has any subordinates, they're bound to be weaker than him, or they would have already usurped his position. I am fast and strong enough to cover my teammates, and you can add Shadow Clones as well, if you wish."

Kakashi stared at him with narrowed eyes.

"As for you… you'll be the assassin." He tapped Kakashi on his hitai-ate with a smirk. "I know, you have like a thousand techniques, but this is different. I would do this attack myself, but I think that it would look rather weird on the mission reports, and they're bound to be odd enough as it is. You will keep yourself hidden, and ready that lightning move of yours. I know you're good enough to use it without warning the opposition. Try out my seals before you go, they'll give you the time advantage you'll need, so you're more effective. When the Missing-Nin appears to entertain himself with the Genin that supposedly stumbled into his camp, you skewer him from behind. No half measures either. Behead the murdering bastard."

He heard Sakura gasp from Shino's side, and he could practically feel Sasuke's eyes burning in his back.

"…You are the commander," Kakashi said after a long moment. "This is a very risky plan, Naruto."

"Not if we do it right," Naruto countered. "Kakashi, we have two Genin and a Jōnin that are either dead already or close enough to it, especially without our help. We have to act, since our ANBU support will only be in time to dust up the ashes of Team 8. Let me at least sent the clones out, and figure if the plan has a decent chance of success. If not, then we'll do it your way. If it's necessary, I'll act as bait myself, without involving Sakura and Sasuke at all."

"Like hell," Sasuke said sharply from the entrance. "This mission is just starting to get interesting."

Sakura trembled, but she bound Shino's chakra burns with a determined expression, her nervous gaze meeting Naruto's. Where Naruto expected the Sakura he remembered - focused on Sasuke, easily intimidated - he could only find conviction now. Something of the Sakura that had first appeared in the Exams, the first time around. "I... My answer is the same as Sasuke's."

Kakashi stared at the two for a long time, and then back at Naruto, who looked back unwaveringly. Finally, their sensei nodded. "...Alright. Send out the clones."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Begun, the Clone war has.

I know, not the same cliffhanger as last chapter. Fine, then. Let's make it a little fun. One of the members of Team 8 is gonna have to get used to, ahem, having a shittier life, let's say. Or none at all. Place yer bets.

The next chapter has action. Lots of action. Oodles of asskicking.


	18. Necessary Steps

**Chapter 18 – Necessary Steps**

Sasuke jumped nimbly from one tree to the next, sticking to the bark easily, trying to stay as silent as possible so he could hear any activity. He saw a flash of pink a few trees over, where Sakura was heading in the same direction. They were still a little ways off from the real Naruto and Kakashi, who had moved in to survey an enemy encampment. Not that Sasuke was thinking about the meeting much; he was still full of far too many questions.

After healing up Shino, things had taken a turn for the bizarre. Naruto had unleashed an absolutely ludicrous amount of Shadow Clones, enough to fill the entire forest around them. Upwards of a few hundred had fanned out across the area, exploring dozens of square miles in the time it took the rest of the team to get Shino set up with food and water, vanishing into the undergrowth like ghosts. It was ludicrous.

Sasuke had felt practically useless; he had done less than nothing, merely keeping an eye out for enemies that he was certain Kakashi and Naruto would have noticed long before him.

Naruto, it appeared, had some kind of leadership experience judging from his certainty in his role, not to mention the fact that he addressed Kakashi as a subordinate, seemingly completely at ease with talking to the Jōnin like an equal, or at the very least without worry of getting on his bad side. Sasuke was honestly not too surprised about this, given his own suspicions, but he was mildly shocked that he found himself following the orders without any of the usual bickering. Perhaps it was because Shino remained unconscious, and his team missing, which would make his usual disagreements with Naruto rather in poor taste. Perhaps it was because of what he had found out, about the Kyūbi.

Even as he tried not to think about that dreadful sight, those red eyes seemed to appear before him again, staring mockingly. Naruto was a demon vessel._ Naruto, _the annoying loudmouth from the academy, held probably the strongest being in existence sealed within him, and Sasuke had never known about it. The disdain of some of the civilian and ninja population suddenly made a lot more sense, because those people doubtlessly blamed Naruto for the Kyūbi's attack on the village. He was a jinchūriki, a weapon in human form.

It made a twisted sort of sense, Sasuke thought then, for the Hokage to put him on the same team as another Itachi, another genius that lacked any real family or close relationships, but with more power than anyone was supposed to have. Perhaps the Hokage believed that Naruto could convince him to stop his hunt for his brother, as a tangible example of someone who was similar to that man, but had not turned out the same. Or perhaps this arrangement was so that Sasuke could measure himself against such enormous power. A rival.

The rest made sense, then. Kakashi had to be their teacher, because he had the Sharingan, as well as deep knowledge of a vast number of jutsu, which made him near-enough an unlimited resource for anyone who wished to get strong. That left Sakura. She was not fantastically powerful, but she was persistent in her attempts to get close to him, and she could get quite violent. He knew next to nothing about her personal life, or even what she could really do when she became serious. Perhaps he would find out.

Naruto's words returned to him, that night in the hospital. He had claimed they could be the next Sannin. It was the most famous example of a dream team, a group that is far stronger than the sum of its parts, even if those parts are themselves very powerful. True, they had fallen apart, but not before making legends out of themselves. Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru. It seemed that Naruto believed they could tread those grounds again. Naruto. Sakura. Sasuke. The idea appealed to him, at least a little, he had to admit.

He was actually starting to give a damn about his team, and that was something he had not expected. Not at all. Kakashi's lateness, Sakura's clingy behaviour, Naruto's loud brashness and endless pit of weird mysteries, they were no longer getting on his nerves quite as badly as they had. He was used to living on his own, independent, and he had done it for so long that it was strange to consider other people again. Especially Naruto. He was almost a... friend.

Sasuke jumped down from the last tree fluidly, dropping into a squat next to Kakashi, who did not even flinch at the sudden appearance, merely glancing over with a raised eyebrow. Sakura was mere moments behind him, flipping down from the tree easily and wiping the hair from her face and behind her ears.

"Took you longer than I would have thought," Kakashi muttered. "A patrol in forty minutes, really? The range wasn't _that _huge. I could have run around Konoha in that time... probably more than once."

"You didn't tell us to hurry up," Sasuke responded immediately, shaking his head. "Conserving chakra is vital if we are going to end up fighting. Naruto might be able to keep going as long as he wants, but we're not chakra monsters."

Kakashi looked at him sharply, but Sasuke refused to meet his eye. He cleared his throat as he put away his little book. "Not much has happened since you left. I've sent out a few Nin-dogs, just in case the first I sent over didn't make it all the way back to town, but it will still take a day or two for our forces to get here, I suspect. We did not get an SOS through, exactly, so it won't be until my dogs arrive that they know to haul ass."

Sasuke snorted.

"What about Shino?" Sakura wondered. "What do we do?"

"Pakkun and a few clones of Naruto are keeping watch with him, so he doesn't get ambushed again. They have enough supplies to keep him stable, though it could take hours before he wakes up. I'd like to keep his location unspoken, just in case we're dealing with spies."

Sakura nodded warily. "Shouldn't we be transporting him back to the village?" she wondered. "You said his chakra system is all scarred, and he's not getting better out here..." She looked at Naruto, who was standing at the cliff's edge, turned away from them. "I don't know what will happen with him, honestly."

"If there are any kikai-bugs left, they will repopulate," Kakashi said slowly. "There could be some that were hidden deep inside his body, which did not really experience the worst of his encounter with the Kyūbi's chakra. They would nurse him back to health. If there aren't, well…" He sighed. "I won't lie: if his whole colony is dead, it could take years before he has adapted to a new one. If ever. There is a reason why an Aburame is usually implanted with a colony near birth."

"Gross," Sakura muttered, shuddering.

"Still, Shino will live, that's the most important part." Kakashi smiled.

"Because of that _thing." _Sakura said with a shiver.

"Yes, well, let's say that Naruto's a little miracle worker," Kakashi replied, and then he smiled reassuringly. "We'll get Team 8 back, I'm sure. The others were just captured, so they're probably fine." He glanced between Sasuke and Naruto, a frown appearing. "Sasuke, about what happened earlier, with Naruto…"

"I don't care about that."

Kakashi stared. "That is a lie."

"It's not. I don't care about the fox," Sasuke repeated more strongly. He meant it, too – the creature in itself was irrelevant. Just a ball of hatred, stuck in a cage. "I have my eyes, he has the fox. It seems that we all have our advantages." His eyes wandered over to Sakura, watching them nervously. "Even if they're not always so obvious to everyone."

"That is surprisingly mature of you," Kakashi murmured, raising an eyebrow. His gaze slid to follow Sasuke's, as if trying to deduce what Sasuke was talking about.

"Mature? I haven't been a child in years, Kakashi-sensei. I thought you knew that," Sasuke noted dully. He strode over to Naruto's side as Kakashi looked after him pensively.

"Sasuke-kun, are you sure you don't want…?" Sakura piped up carefully.

Sasuke shrugged.

"Alright..." she replied, staying with Kakashi. He reflected on her comment, and her expression. She was surprisingly withdrawn, considering how much she had been asserting herself lately. It was almost like she was... afraid?

"Don't worry about her," Naruto commented. Sasuke stopped right next to the boy, who was still gazing down into the valley below with sharp eyes. He seemed confident, and he looked askance at Sasuke with a smile curling around his lips. He had been listening to their little chat, probably. Sasuke wondered what he made of Sakura's hesitance.

"I didn't expect that you would be the tolerant one, out of the three," Naruto said after a long moment. "I can understand Kakashi-sensei's shock. He was around when the Kyūbi attacked the village. I figure he will eventually realize that I wasn't as out of control as he seems to think. Sakura will come around as well. You, though, you're a mystery to me. That's probably how you like it."

Sasuke shrugged. "I'm not shocked. The fox isn't even your biggest secret, is it?"

Naruto smiled sardonically at that. "Not really. Tell me when you figure some things out." He grinned wider. "It would be really interesting if _you_ were the one to do that, actually. Unexpected."

"So, there _is_ more, then."

The blond chuckled merrily. "Of course there is. Lots. But that's not really relevant to the moment, I think. The fox is quite big enough for one day, anyway. Especially when your first meeting is face-to-face like that. Still, I think that the rest can be saved for another day."

"You're not _that_ good at keeping secrets," Sasuke said with a scoff. "Some probably don't notice, but you're not fooling everyone with your casual act. Shikamaru's been making odd comments since the Genin exams, and even Sakura at least knows you're different. As for Kakashi – well, you told him _something, _I'm certain. He was surprised, sure, but not enough to head back home_._"

"You've been thinking about this, haven't you?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "The mind is a shinobi's most important tool, Dead Last. You've been slipping. I bet even the Hokage and that Sannin teacher of yours figured that out, if they don't already know about all this classified information."

Naruto didn't respond immediately. "You think so, huh?"

"Perhaps not; maybe I'm simply smarter than all of them," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. "Tell me one thing that I want to know, at least. Why was that creature sealed into _you _specifically? Why some unknown kid who lives on his own?"

Naruto shrugged, frowning. "There were a bunch of reasons. One of them was that I was born right around the Kyūbi attack, and they needed someone to put the thing into."

That much was obvious, but the sad look that ghosted over Naruto's face was strange. Perhaps he knew more about what happened back then, in the attack on Konoha, that he was not talking about? There were things like that which Sasuke himself rather avoided, for many reasons. "Have you ever met Itachi?" he asked, quite surprised at himself.

"…Itachi?" Naruto seemed surprised at his name coming up. Interesting. "No, not really," he said. "I have seen the guy a few times, but that's it. I know _of_ him though, if that's what you mean. He's pretty notorious."

Sasuke nodded slowly, closing his eyes. "You know, then, that he was said to have great talent from early youth. There were many among my family that despised him, because he turned his back on a lot of traditional Uchiha beliefs. And then, of course, he killed them all." He glanced up darkly. "He turned into a monster and left me alive, as if to torture me beyond even the others."

Naruto looked away, and Sasuke wondered if he saw actual sadness in his eyes. He doubted there were many that would even consider shedding a tear for his dead family. "If I could have prevented the massacre, somehow, I would have…" the boy muttered.

"You couldn't have, you were my age at the time," Sasuke said derisively. "Unless you knew it was going to happen, or were in ANBU or something." He didn't miss Naruto's slight wince, and his eyes narrowed. He had to be pretty close with his ANBU hypothesis, then.

"Why are you telling me this, Sasuke?"

"Itachi is the man I have sworn to kill."

"I knew that much," Naruto said softly, running a hand through his hair. "What's that got to do with me?"

"I'd like your help to do it."

For a long moment, everything was totally silent. Naruto slowly turned towards him, and there was an expression on his face that Sasuke couldn't quite place. His eyes seemed to shine. Was he happy? About _that? _Hopeful, maybe? Naruto cleared his throat. "You want _me_ to help you? Someone you just found out is a jinchūriki? An outsider to your whole dispute with him? The Dead Last from your class?"

Sasuke nodded. "I need to get better, stronger, if I want to reach his level, so that I can beat him. You're _really_ powerful, and I think I haven't really seen what you can do, not yet. If you can show me-"

Naruto nodded sharply, a grin stretching across his face. "Of course I'll help. But, and you have to promise me that, you won't half-ass my techniques. No easy copying. I know a couple fire jutsu that you can use, so we'll go over those back in the village. Sakura will be there, too. No negotiations."

Sasuke blinked as he realized what Naruto was implying. He scowled. "You were waiting for this, weren't you?"

"I hoped you would get over yourself and ask," Naruto agreed. "Uchiha pride is practically legendary. I figured I would need to knock some sense into you first, but it turns out it's not needed. I'm glad to see that Kurama made an impression on you." He tapped his belly. "The big bad fox seems to do that to people."

"…Alright."

"As for your brother," Naruto said. "Here's what I know: Itachi is with an organization that means people like me, those who carry demons, serious harm. I don't know his precise reasons for joining that group, but I know that he surrounds himself with S-rank Missing-Nin, the best of the best. If you want to defeat him, you will have to get just as good. We will have to get just as good. Jiraiya of the Sannin knows about it, and he will keep an eye out in Konoha, but if we're out here we have to be extra perceptive."

"Then we will be," Sasuke said simply, his Sharingan swirling into his eyes. "We all have our advantages, after all."

Naruto nodded, a ghost of a smile on his face as he stared out, seemingly lost in thought. Finally, his eyes slid over again, filled with some emotion that Sasuke could not identify. "You talk so easily of killing your brother, and I'm sure you will have the power to do it, in time. Yet, have you ever killed before?"

Sasuke looked away. "How is that relevant?"

"I have," Naruto said quietly. "It stays with you, especially the first one. Please promise me that Itachi will not be the first one. Don't make it someone you care about, even a little, or someone that gets you emotional at all." He shuddered. "It can really mess you up."

"Experience speaking?" Sasuke asked, voice soft as well.

Naruto looked down, pain plainly visible in his expression and rigid stance. "...Yes. Trust me on that, if on nothing else." He looked up, then. "It's possible that today you will face some enemies yourself. Kakashi will kill them, even if you don't. Our enemies here are Missing-Nin, just traitors and criminals. If you have the chance... It's better to get it out of the way."

Sasuke frowned. "You sound like a veteran."

Naruto sighed. "From some points of view, I am." He shook his head. "We should be focusing on the mission, not on all this mopey stuff... There are enemies down below."

Sasuke sighed, knowing that pushing it further would probably backfire. So be it, he had time. "How many are there?"

"At least seven shinobi, possibly as many as eleven, it's hard to tell," Naruto said. "Most of them are weak, of course, but that's to be expected with poorly trained shinobi like these. It's remarkable to find someone from Akatsuki that even has an entourage, really. Three of the people I sensed are bound to be Team 8. I doubt the Missing-Nin would let them roam free."

"That still leaves at least four enemies for us to deal with." Sasuke muttered.

"One or two full teams," Naruto agreed. "I don't think it's a coincidence. The shinobi I saw was a Missing-Nin, and there are plenty of those that still keep to traditions like master-apprentice relationships or even teams, particularly if they're involved with criminal organizations. It could be that we're dealing with a shinobi that's training a new generation of independent shinobi to take up his cause; it could even be a Missing-Nin that's been hired by a minor nation that doesn't have enough high-level shinobi to train its newbies."

Sasuke grunted. "Genin, then?"

Naruto shook his head. "Chūnin, I would guess. Missing-Nin Genin do exist, but they're not very common, and they tend to get rounded up pretty quickly because of their low skill level. Chūnin's a pretty broad category, and covers a lot of skill levels. I'm certain that you and I are already good enough to reach that level."

"You could probably be higher up," Sasuke said dryly. "Did you _see_ Kakashi, when that creature got talkative? I thought he was going to faint…"

"Anyway," Naruto said after a bit, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. "We three could probably take out three Chūnin between us, considering none of us are exactly below average. I'm not as fast as you, but I can be very efficient if the situation calls for it. Sakura has plenty of power, if she applies it properly. If we end up in a Ninjutsu fight, though, odds would be stacked in our favour. I can throw around a lot of sheer destruction."

"What about Kakashi?"

Naruto shook his head sharply. "Throwing him in from the start would just mean the enemy gets to see all our cards on the table. I know how people like this work; the leaders will just watch their followers get beaten up, as long as they're confident they can easily defeat us themselves. Of course, at that point they would have nobody left to guard their back. And that's where sensei comes in."

"So who is this enemy Jōnin?" Sasuke wondered.

Naruto shrugged. "The information in the Bingo Book wasn't too helpful. The guy's name is Muneyoshi, no known family name. He's said to have killed a lot of foreign shinobi, though details are pretty sketchy. Seems like he's an A-rank that's probably edging on the high end of that, with what could be a bloodline ability that involves absorbing chakra. The Bingo Book is vague about the specifics. He was banished from Iwa almost twenty years ago, when he was still a Chūnin. Probably some internal dispute."

"So he's an _A-rank_?" Sasuke repeated. "Do you think we can take down someone like that?"

"Well, we did bring our own with us," Naruto said, waving vaguely over his shoulder. "Kakashi-sensei doesn't show it much, but he's a grade-A badass too. Anyway, even without him, I think this can be done. Everyone is fallible, and luring someone into making a mistake is a skill that even a Genin can pull off, if they knew how to do it. It's even easier on people who assume that they're better than you."

"So…?"

"I had a clone draw this up for you," Naruto said, slipping a small scroll from his jacket and holding it up. "It's best if you burn it immediately after you read it. If I tell you personally that your orders have changed, I'll use the top word on your scroll first. Otherwise, follow that scroll to the letter, even if I say something totally contradictory. Confusing the enemy is very helpful, and this way we have some tricks up our sleeves. Speaking of which, prepare a few of my seals. They pack a wallop, if you need one in a pinch."

Sasuke frowned, glancing over his shoulder to check where Sakura and Kakashi were before opening the scroll. When he finished it, he burned it with only a gesture. "Orders received."

Naruto smiled cheerily. "When Kakashi and Sakura return, we're going. I think it's about time to get this party started."

Sasuke paused, reaching for his bag. Naruto's orders were clear enough, and they placed him with Sakura right off the bat. If that were the case, he had something she could use, if things got messy. "If this doesn't work-"

"Yes, yes," Naruto replied airily. "Trust me."

* * *

"Akamaru?" Kiba groaned. It felt like someone had been hitting his head with a sledgehammer. It rang like a bell. Memories of the forest returned to him in a flash, and for a moment he shuddered. "Oh, crap, _Shino…_"

"He's… not here," Hinata said hesitantly, and Kiba's eyes snapped in the direction of her voice; she was a few feet away, sitting up against a small tree that served as a corner to the makeshift tent, the dark green fabric letting through only the smallest trickle of light. "Kiba, what's going on?" she said then, sounding a little panicked. "I tried to use my Byakugan, but... it's like I don't have any chakra... It's strange."

Kiba slowly managed to get himself upright as well, but it was difficult. He found himself bound in several places by extremely sturdy ropes, well outside the reach of his hands or teeth, and he too felt little to nothing in the way of chakra. Was it suppressed, somehow? He coughed against the dust, and he tried to ignore the pungent odours that dominated the air. "We were captured. They – they got him. They got Shino!"

"...Kiba…" Hinata said hesitantly. "S-Shino was hit by that round sword. He fell like he was... like he was _dead_."

Kiba looked away, grimacing. "What are they going to do with us, then? Save us for later?" Kiba asked in a high-pitched voice, wiggling over to the side of the tent, though if there were any guards, he would get nowhere wrapped up so tightly. "What about _Akamaru_? Sensei? Are we the only ones –"

"The tall one took sensei with him." Hinata said. "I d-didn't see Akamaru. Maybe he got away, or they ignored him…"

"I hope so," Kiba murmured, jerking at his bonds. "We need to get out of here, before we can go after them." He grimaced as he pulled until he could feel drops of blood escaping from under the sharp thread. "What the hell do they want with us? We're just Genin!"

"P-Probably ransom," Hinata said meekly. "It's the same as back then…"

"They'll try and sell us back to our families? Screw that!" Kiba snapped. "My family will hunt these guys down before they know it!"

"Maybe…" Hinata smiled slightly, and then raised her hand to her head gingerly. "I put my hitai-ate on my forehead when I woke up, but I don't know if any of them realized my family name…" She shook her head. "The man who attacked me must have known, but he left…"

Kiba took a long whiff of the air, but he couldn't make out anything beyond the heady scents inside the tent. These captors were well-prepared, it seemed. "Who caught us? Missing-Nin, right?"

"From Iwa," Hinata answered. "…S-Should we wait for help, or try to get out? I don't know if we can get free…?"

"No idea" Kiba admitted, then clenched his fists, which he could barely manage. "He killed Shino, man. I'm gonna rip the bastard to pieces!"

Hinata looked down sadly. "Without anyone else, we're not getting out of here at all… Every night they come and clean things up here, and bring food, but they do all that after using some sort of paralysis jutsu." He winced. "It's been three or four days already."

Kiba shivered. "We can break out when they come by! That's possible, right?"

Hinata closed her eyes, and didn't answer.

* * *

Sakura edged forward carefully, shoving aside a large branch that obstructed her path. She stayed near the trees so she would not easily be spotted; excellent chakra control or not, she had not really been trained in stealth techniques, so she needed all her concentration to avoid revealing her position. Chūnin were decent enough at stealth training, usually, so she had to be quiet and hope that her teammate would play his part.

Just as she was about to pass another obstruction in her way, she froze. There had been a soft sound, more like a whisper, and it had her senses on full alert. She pulled three shuriken from her pouch, just in case, gripping them tightly as she took another step.

"Gotcha, little sneak!" A blond shinobi exclaimed then as he dropped into view from above, evidently hiding in the leaves all along. He had a short sword clasped in one fist, a vicious-looking knife in the other, and his Hitai-ate proudly displayed his origin in Iwa. He slashed out with his longer blade, a vicious sideways attack aimed for Sakura's neck, hoping to end the fight in one stroke.

Sakura's fist shot out so quickly that the attacker barely had enough time to realize it was coming for him before it thudded against his breastbone. It knocked him over like he'd run into a wall, his sword easily deflected in the same moment by the metal segments on the back of her other glove. The shinobi wheezed as he stared in disbelief, holding a hand against his aching chest.

"You're pretty weak, Blondie," Sakura said jovially, cracking her knuckles enthusiastically. "I just got these gloves today, so I'd like to try them out. Sasuke-kun told me they would be awesome, but this is way better than my old ones! Want some more?"

The attacker flipped back to his feet, staring at his enemy with narrowed eyes. Sakura threw her shuriken in quick succession to keep him back as she grasped for a kunai, and for a moment she couldn't find a handle. Blondie's blade careened her way again, a lot more quickly than before. Just as she found her weapon, her defence became unnecessary.

From out of nowhere, Sasuke's foot appeared, making contact just under the enemy's temple, and sending Blondie careening to the side. He used the momentum from his hit to smash his other foot into his enemy's side as well, and the latter's scream was cut short, marking his success. Sasuke landed easily on his feet while his victim went to the ground once more, bruised and bleeding.

"More Konoha twerps?" Blondie spat as he got up once again, staring angrily at the new arrival, though his eyes seemed to wander a bit against his will.

Sasuke's Sharingan swirled as he stared down on the Missing-Nin dispassionately, wondering why someone like this, inferior to even Genin, thought he could be condescending at all. "You're supposed to be a Chūnin? You're pretty pathetic, aren't you?" He shook his head. "Your group took a few members of our village. You will return them."

"You don't know what you're talking about," the Chūnin replied through clenched teeth, steadying his sword with both hands as he aimed the point at Sasuke. "You're a bunch of measly Genin. Do you really think that a bit of beginner's luck is going to help you when I get serious?" He tapped his Iwa hitai-ate. "You're no match for me."

Sasuke snorted with contempt as he launched himself forward again; the world seemed to slow down around him on account of his Sharingan's perfect vision. It wasn't quite as effective as he had heard from the stories, since his dōjutsu was not fully developed yet, but he knew that in time he would become so good he could practically see the future. He could barely wait.

His punch slipped between the Missing-Nin's blade and his arm without much effort, impacting just below his rib cage, on the edge of the breastbone. It was a calculated target: If Sakura's hit had done as much damage as it appeared, it was his weakest point.

"Damn it!" Blondie cursed as he flinched back with a shuddering cry of pain, spitting a gob of blood and staring at it for a moment at it. He winced as he rubbed a broken rib. "What the hell?!"

"We might be Genin," Sasuke said slowly. "But even Genin are better than failures of Chūnin. You're pathetic."

Blondie didn't answer verbally; he just clasped his sword in his fist again, and charged. With internal damage already exacerbating any hit to his torso, it was the best bet for a fatal blow, and he already seemed to be avoiding that side of his body in favour of his stronger one. His short sword slashed out for Sasuke's neck, but the Genin easily ducked that attack, watching it slowly pass over his head.

Before the Missing-Nin could regain his balance from his attack, Sasuke struck. His foot rose up as if from nowhere, and he twisted into a spin, placing the full brunt of his attack firmly against Blondie's chin.

His head snapped back as he grunted in pain, and for a moment Blondie was airborne, his hands reflexively releasing their weapons and grasping at his neck in panic, as his breath was forcefully cut off. Blood arced into the air as Sasuke gracefully spun back into position, catching his enemy's sword by the hilt before it could hit the ground. It was pretty beaten-up, but made of high quality steel; he could use this.

The Chūnin rubbed his jaw as he painfully sat up, his breathing ragged. He stared up with blood bubbling around his mouth. "Impressive attack, but your dirty tricks won't work against my Ninjutsu!" He got up in one movement, forming a hand seal. Sasuke was annoyed to realize that he did not stay down, even from such solid hits. He was simply not strong enough to make those truly dangerous. Blondie smiled, exposing his bloodied teeth. "Your whole bastard clan will be dead after this, won't it? Oh, I know about you Uchiha bastards, believe me. Here, how about you try out a little _Doton: -"_

He froze in his tracks quite suddenly, his eyes widening dramatically as he choked. Blondie's hand grasped at the back of his head as if trying to reflexively block a blow, but he collapsed soundlessly before he could manage much more than a vague gesture.

Sakura stood behind him, grimace on her face and fist outstretched, the metal protector on her glove slick with blood. They were Sasuke's own training gloves: After his talk with Naruto, he had given them to Sakura, for a little additional protection. He had not expected her to take to the things like they were second nature, using the metal to block and attack before she could have ever learned that from a teacher.

"Don't insult Sasuke-kun on my watch, you bastard!" Sakura exclaimed as she rubbed her fist, and she kicked her victim in his ribs, which only caused him to let out a slight groan. She turned to Sasuke, her expression brightening. "Are you alright? I thought that since he was all focused on you..."

Sasuke nodded slowly, eyebrow raised. "It was… efficient. Well done."

She nodded happily at the compliment, glancing up. "I think I heard a pop, so Naruto must have hidden clones around here somewhere. I'm kind of curious why he didn't jump in to help…"

"I know," Sasuke morosely. "That was only one. There have to be two more around here, and we made plenty of noise to attract attention. We will have to fight again when they arrive."

"…Alright!" Sakura immediately agreed, smiling slightly. "We can take them on, can't we? This one was easy enough, after all." She raised her hands, showing off her gloves.

Sasuke snorted. "He was an amateur. If that's a Chūnin's level, we will all be promoted very quickly."

The two did not have to wait long for others to find them, and Sasuke prepared his techniques, just in case he needed to bust out his strongest ones. The forest was deep enough to hide movement, but that didn't help you with the sound, and that proved a distinct advantage. Both Sasuke and Sakura heard the tapping of feet on bark a few seconds before the enemies arrived, and they reacted.

Sasuke's hand shot out before the enemy had come fully into view, six shuriken whizzing out to meet them halfway before he even said a word. The first three were easily deflected by a long-haired Chūnin with a hateful expression, who was wearing a garish green outfit and some kind of yellow ribbons tied in his hair that twirled behind him. The other three throwing weapons barely missed the second arrival, a rotund late teen that looked quite like an Akimichi, if not for the excessively pale skin on his bald head, and huge black eyes. He seemed like a giant white bear, if anything.

"Amateurs," the first Chūnin said, looking down on Sasuke with disdain as he landed on the lowest branch of one of the nearest trees. "So, a bunch of weaklings took out Saita, huh? He must've been even worse than he seemed. He's a fool."

So, Blondie's name was Saita; he would have to remember that, just in case. Sasuke flung his hands back without responding to the monologue, ready to finish the fight quickly. For an instant it seemed like nothing happened, then the bigger man suddenly yelled out in pain, grasping at his shoulder; three shuriken had implanted themselves deep into Bear's upper back, with a third slicing right into the neck, just below his ear. Blood gushed as he ripped them out without looking twice, and his whole shoulder was coloured red within moments.

"What the hell?" Ribbons said, and then narrowed his eyes.

Stretched between the three shuriken were filamentous wire strings that glistened slightly in the light, nearly invisible unless you were looking for them. When Sasuke had first thrown them, they had seemingly missed their target, only to come back with a vengeance after a few seconds.

"Great shot, Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed, stepping forward with some confidence; taking out the first one must have really helped. "The other one's mine!"

The Uchiha rolled his eyes as he snapped the wires taut again. The shuriken in Bear's hand were torn loose from his hand and returned to their sender, and he snatched them out of the air easily; with his Sharingan, he could predict their trajectory long before they arrived. "Tell me," he said after a moment. "Why did you kidnap the Konoha team, when you know that you're in the Land of Fire, and there's bound to be many more that will hunt you down for such a crime? It seems highly unproductive."

Ribbons shook his head as he glanced at his huge colleague who staunched his bleeding as best he could. "Our master knew that others would come, sure. He left us to deal with you at our leisure, though, since you are only some pathetic Genin." He snickered. "Two little newbies, all on their own? Konoha must surely be suffering from poor gains in recent years, if that is the best they can do. It's no surprise, really…"

Bear tended to his neck as he scowled. "This will probably scar. You'll get a few more permanent scars in return! You can admire 'em in your shallow tomb."

"You don't even know about our team, do you?" Sasuke wondered aloud. "Underestimating your enemy is a great way to get yourself killed. I would have guessed my eyes, or the image of the red and white fan would have tipped you off." He wiped the hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah, we know about _you._ The less talented member of your damned family." Ribbons fingered the odd yellowish fabric tied through his hair idly. "Should we be scared, Uchiha?"

Before his victim could react, Sasuke's hands shot through seals at high speed as he inhaled deeply, readying his assault. At the last sign, he smirked, and then launched his attack. "_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"_

The ball of concentrated fire travelled through the air towards Ribbons' position at high speed, and detonated on impact with a deafening roar; trees caught on fire under the onslaught, and smoke blasted everywhere. For a moment everything was hidden from view. Flames licked on the clothes of the dark-haired enemy shinobi in green as he landed softly on the bark of a neighbouring tree, and he quickly doused the fire.

"That was not bad," Ribbons commented lightly. "Not exactly a Genin technique, I'm impressed." He glanced over to the side, where Bear stood with his arms crossed, glaring darkly at Sasuke. "Not nearly good enough to hit us, of course, and now you've made someone mad…"

Sasuke panted slightly, and he realized that three or four of those attacks were enough to tire him out completely. He would need a pick-me-up pretty soon, or he would just collapse. "Sakura, did you bring military ration pills?" The girl nodded warily. "Good. Toss me one. I think I'll need it in a bit."

"As if your problem here is lack of chakra," the rotund Chūnin said mockingly. "Give me a break. You're so far out of your depth it's not even funny." He ran forward, a wide grin on his face. "I'll beat you up with my bare hands!"

For his size, Bear was _fast._ Sasuke evaded the first hay-maker, but the second punch glanced off his shoulder and rattled him to his bones; there was a lot of power behind each of those attacks, and he could not afford to block them.

Sakura's fist, tiny in comparison to Bear's, intercepted the next attack; the two fists stopped dead against each other. The enemy stared in confusion for a moment as Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Stay the hell away from him," she growled, eyes flashing dangerously. Her other fist slammed forward then, slamming right into the man's forearm with all her strength. There was a sound like a snapping branch.

Though Sasuke heard Bear's cry of pain, he had other things to deal with. Ribbons took the opportunity to press his own attack, flashing through hand signs. Sasuke only just interrupted him with a kick to his hands, but stumbled when he tried to follow up his sudden assault, his momentum broken. He could see how to stop the next attack, but his body refused to react as quickly as he would have liked. The enemy's fist came down forcefully, impacting on his neck. For a moment, intense pain shot through him, and then his muscles twitched and slackened in protest. Seeing through a vague haze, Sasuke realized he couldn't feel much of anything.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled as she turned on a dime, glaring. For a moment she looked so terrifying that even the two Missing-Nin took a step backwards. Then, she attacked.

Sakura's fist shot out to pierce the attacker's defences, to take him out in one blow. She aimed the metal spikes on her gloves directly at Ribbons' lower torso, the weakest part of his body. Her bladed fist tore through skin and tissue without effort, and lodged itself into bone, and a sickening smell spread outwards. Her victim gurgled in shock, once. Sakura barely twitched as she pulled back her hand in one movement, staring at her bloodied fist with mingled shock and satisfaction.

Sasuke coughed and groaned as he forced himself upright, feeling returning to his limbs as he gingerly felt his tortured neck. That was secondary for the moment, though. Sakura stood over him with a look of intense rage aimed at Ribbons, though her expression turned to one of concern as she glanced at him.

"W-What the hell?" Bear said, staring at his fellow Missing-Nin's quickly cooling corpse. Corpse, Sasuke realized. It had taken only one hit, one lethal blow, and it had been _Sakura's._ Suddenly, the comparison that Naruto had made between her and Tsunade of the Sannin did not seem as far-fetched.

That left only the one enemy, and he'd be damned if he did not get at least one shot in, here. His fireball wasn't fast enough to take out these Chūnin; unlike Taijutsu assaults, that attack needed preparation, and he could not properly predict where someone was going to be yet, not without fully developed eyes. His gaze slid down to his arm, to one alternative. He still had one of Naruto's seals attached to his forearm.

"Sakura, follow my lead," he said as he got up slowly, exaggerating his wounds as the enemy Chūnin seemed to gather himself again. She nodded warily, clearly eager to make sure he was alright. Thankfully, she focused on the more pressing issue.

Sasuke clasped his hand around his forearm as if in pain; there were already drops of blood on it, which made it more convincing. They would also be more than enough to activate Naruto's seal. He channelled chakra into it and lined up his arm.

Bear hesitated for a moment, glancing at his two downed allies with uncertainty. Sasuke fired. "_Fūinjutsu: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"_

The fireball was there nearly instantaneously, and Sasuke could only barely prevent himself from flinching back as white-hot heat scorched across his skin, even though it was gone in an instant. A sphere of white-hot fire blasted out instead of the usual reddish mass, and it screeched as the air around it ignited from the extreme heat. Sakura jumped back with a panicked yell as the scorching conflagration reached its wide-eyed target, impacting the soil at his feet and instantly liquefying it, before exploding.

The explosion blasted outwards with a thundering crash that buffeted the trees, and set out most of the fires it had begun, as the oxygen was sucked away: For a brief moment it seemed like the sun itself had been transported to the ground. Then, with a flicker, it was gone. There was only steam, as well as a sizable crater that still glowed brightly and was covered almost entirely in what seemed like glass. Sasuke rubbed his ears that had popped from the pressure wave.

"Damn you, Naruto. You didn't tell me…" he muttered in irritation as he quickly swallowed Sakura's ration pill, hoping that it would save him from the worst of exhaustion. That had not been just a quicker fireball. No, that had been something else entirely; he had to have overloaded his chakra to get that kind of result. This was bad news, when two or three normal fireballs were enough to send him to his knees.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked nervously. She looked down at her hand again, at the blood that dripped off, and she shivered in revulsion.

"That attack sapped me of half my chakra, at least..." Sasuke said as he winced. "I think I need to sit down for a minute... You look like you could use a breather as well." He dropped unceremoniously, glad to note that the medicine was working. "Naruto mentioned this could happen... sometimes it's like he can see the future." He shook his head.

"I -" Sakura grimaced. "I killed someone."

"So did I. I guess now we'll have something to brag about back home," Sasuke observed, disinterested. "Don't tell me you feel bad for that asshole Missing-Nin?"

Sakura looked troubled at that. She paused as she looked at him, and crinkled up her nose in distaste. Well, that was new.

"Hn?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

She tapped gingerly on her own shoulder, and stared at him. His gaze slid down to his own side, and he grimaced in distaste. Very carefully he lifted something from his shoulder and held it up, shaking his head.

"It seems that I was on target," was all he said as he dropped the detached finger to the ground. "Pity. If I'd kept the head intact, it would have netted me some bounty." He smirked. "I wonder what people will think when _you_ come back with trophies."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed, looking a little green.

"I'm sure Naruto has some seals you can use," Sasuke observed easily. "He brought plenty of them, after all."

* * *

Naruto smiled knowingly as he approached the location of three or four shinobi that seemed to be grouped together around a little campsite. He walked carefully across high branches while keeping absolutely quiet, a skill that had taken him years to perfect, clumsy as he was. Thankfully, that particular technique was more about remembering to pay attention than fantastic physical skills, even if he wasn't back to his old levels by a long shot.

Some of his clones had just popped, informing him of Sasuke and Sakura's status, and their successful take-down of three Chūnin, two of which were quite permanently removed from the equation. He was honestly quite proud, considering the last time around, they had run into quite a bit of trouble against the 'Demon Brothers' on the way to Wave. Then again, those had not even known the basics of teamwork at all.

Both of them, it seemed, had ended up killing one of the enemies. It was cruel, really: He was fairly sure that neither had killed anyone before, and now they each had a body count already. Still, they were shinobi, and it was going to happen one way or another. Kakashi might have been the one to take out Zabuza and Haku on their mission to Wave, but it could as well have been any of them. This was not that different, except the Missing-Nin were not really the type to have good reasons for their activities. He knew this type, too; glory hounds and thrill seekers, betraying their country to feel more powerful than those who stayed in the system. He felt no remorse over the deaths of a bunch of blow-hards.

His own first kill still weighed heavily on his mind, but Naruto tried not to think about it too much, since it was definitely different than these fools. He had been older than Sakura and Sasuke were now, but that had more to do with his opponents than with him not trying hard enough. He had constantly been fighting enemies that were a lot stronger than him, and they had a tendency to get away and lick their wounds. No, the first real kill he had made, and one that he hoped could be prevented outright, had been that of his very own teammate. Sasuke.

The Fourth Shinobi World War had been a hard fought victory, and looking back on it did not make things any rosier than they had seemed at the time. Somewhere in that drawn-out conflict, things had gone south for him. He and Octopops had been there, and Kakashi and Gai-sensei, facing off against the worst forces that the enemy could summon. Then... things got complicated. Tobi had been there, behind that infernal mask of his, and Uchiha Madara. Even Orochimaru had made a reappearance, someone he was certain had died ages ago. Resurrected people, unfortunately, seemed to be the rule rather than the exception.

In the end, when all was said and done, there was only a pile of corpses left that the five nations had to clean up. Sasuke had been among them. Perhaps there, with the betrayal of his own promise to bring back his teammate, history had taken the negative path. Perhaps that was where he himself had lost his way. It had taken many more years for him to acknowledge his failure, and more still to find a way around it. He did not know if it could be considered cowardice, to want to change your own choices after the fact; especially if you had a way to do it.

He shook his head forcefully, shaking off the image of his friend, dying, most of his chest ripped to shreds by the vicious winds of his most advanced Rasengan attack. Sasuke was different in this time. Already, Naruto could see that his own strength and positive words had prevented the antagonistic relationship they had shared before, in favour of one that was more wary and respectful than anything. Though he had planned for a better team, hoped that it would all work out, it had not been until Sasuke's request for help came from his own lips that Naruto believed it fully. For all his screw-ups, some things had gone right.

Sasuke saw some of the advantages of his team, well before the Chūnin Exams, before Orochimaru got his filthy hands on him and twisted everything into hatred. This was the time when his allegiance was undecided, when his loyalty to Konoha was strongest. Perhaps that alone could be a tipping point, so that even the darker revelations of the village could not turn him entirely away.

Doubtlessly the Uchiha even saw some of Sakura's promise now, after the beat-down she had just delivered right in front of him. Even Naruto was surprised about the efficiency_,_ after only a few weeks of Taijutsu training: She was a natural. This time, he would make sure that she, too, would develop it further. If there was another war, then all three of them would be on the front line, and on the same side.

Clasping two kunai in his hands, Naruto descended from the trees, staying behind the leaves at all times as he glanced up momentarily; he did not need to see him to know that his sensei was watching, waiting. Far below, he could make out crude tents made out of rough green material, kept upright with thin wires. For a split second, he called upon the tiniest bit of natural chakra. It was a crude method of sensing others, but it worked: there was not nearly enough to get him in danger of actually turning to stone, one of the nastier risks of manipulating that chakra, but he could use it to get a general idea of how many were nearby; more like a sonar pulse, in a way.

He sensed four chakra signatures, all human. No Akamaru, then, but there was a pretty good shot some of the others were Team 8. He crossed his fingers and four more clones appeared silently around him, all of them wearing dark green and with their hair covered, much like his own _Henge. _With a gesture, they dropped.

The four shinobi fell soundlessly from the sky, landing almost effortlessly in the middle of the Missing-nin encampment with their weapons raised. It took a split second for two enemy Chūnin to react to the new arrivals, and that was far too long.

"Enemy-!" one managed to force out, before a kunai lodged itself in his oesophagus with a gruesome sound, and a second sliced through his gut in a vicious cutting motion. He did not have time to say anything more, as his eyes rolled up, and a shuddering last breath forced itself past his fatal wound. The clone let him fall, removing his knives with a grim expression.

The second Missing-Nin had managed to deflect the first kunai, barely, by raising his arm to intercept the blow, and leaving the second kunai to scratch sharply against body-armour that was hidden well under his baggy clothing. He stared in shock for a moment as two more copies of Naruto joined the fight, with a fifth dropping from above; the real one.

"Surrender," Naruto commanded sharply. "You're outnumbered, and outmatched. You'll tell me what I want to know, and I'll let you live. You don't want to test my patience, either."

The Missing-Nin faltered momentarily, setting a step back. "Who the hell are _you_? What-?"

"I am a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf," Naruto said, stepping forward with authority; he knew that even a little intimidation could go a long way. "You and your allies are responsible for kidnapping some of my friends. If you surrender, you will be brought to the village to be tried for your crimes. Otherwise, you will simply die here."

"Konoha already reached us?" The guard shook his head. "Impossible! We intercepted the team's messages! How...?"

Naruto snapped forward sharply, grasping the man by his neck and slamming him into the nearest tree with enough force to call forth a pained half-scream on his victim's part. Wires severed as Naruto shoved him down the tree and disarmed him. As a result, the nearest tent collapsed in on itself. There was a sound from inside. It was a momentary yelp that was quickly stifled. Naruto recognized the sound immediately, though; he had heard it often enough in academy training.

"Kiba? Is that you in there? Who is with you?"

"...N-Naruto?" Hinata answered, though her voice sounded muffled.

"The_ Dead Last_'s come to rescue us... How am I ever going to live this down?" Kiba sounded relieved despite his words. Two of Naruto's clones moved without requiring instructions, slicing open the tent the rest of the way.

"So, you attempted to stop communication with Konoha. Probably so that your activities here would not be noticed, hmmm? Unfortunately, you missed something. You might have stopped messenger birds, but did you also stop every insect?"

The guard stared in confusion.

Naruto sighed, shaking his head. "You _were _aware that there's an Aburame on this team, right?" He cocked his head to the side as he smiled. "Clearly, you were ill-informed about their specialty. What do you know? A Missing-Nin that didn't do his research. You should have found a better boss; he couldn't even finish off his enemies properly."

Hinata and Kiba appeared from the tent, stumbling awkwardly into the light; both were pale and panting, clearly underfed and dehydrated, with their chakra supplies running dangerously low as well. That was probably intentional; after sapping their chakra dry, they were allowed no opportunity to recharge, so they were easier to keep. He suspected there were a couple seals on the tent material as well, though he would have to check more thoroughly. Hinata's arm hung by her side as if useless, and Naruto remembered how she had hurt it from Shino's memory. Days of captivity certainly hadn't helped her recovery.

"Shino is alive. My team found him where he fell," Naruto said as he looked at them; he was sure that would be the first thing they wanted to know. Hinata gasped and Kiba stared at him with wide eyes, and then nodded slowly, a smile working its way onto his face. Naruto shrugged nervously. "He was in decent condition when I last saw him, but utterly spent, like you two. It might be a while before he is back on his feet." He frowned. "I didn't sense anyone else near here. Where is Kurenai-sensei?"

"Ah... They took her away, Naruto-kun..." Hinata shuddered as she grasped her arm. "The tall man took her west when we arrived. I knew because of where the sun set... I don't know where we are, though..."

"Westwards," Naruto murmured, narrowing his eyes. "That's towards the Land of Rain. Amegakure is _not_ a place that she wants to be right now."

Amegakure. Naruto knew what could be found there, in these days; Nagato and Konan, and the six Paths of Pain. Akatsuki's home territory, in a sense, and undoubtedly a safe haven for this Muneyoshi. Jiraiya had taken him out in another life, but here he was, retreating to safe territory with a hostage. Judging from the condition of Hinata and Kiba, it had been days. She would already have been taken to enemy territory. Still, there was a chance.

"Kakashi-sensei?" He said as he glanced up; he knew that his teacher could hear him. "I know the direction that Kurenai-sensei was taken. We'll have to transport Hinata-chan and Kiba to Shino, but if we want to have a shot of rescuing everyone..." He shook his head. "Stay out of sight, and follow me. My clones can take care of this. Sakura and Sasuke are already heading towards us as we speak."

"...That's fine." Kakashi said as he suddenly appeared from above. "What about _that _guy?"

Naruto looked at the now unconscious enemy shinobi; one of his clones had knocked him out. "Sakura and Sasuke tied up their survivor; I guess we'll do the same. Ibiki will probably appreciate some details, anyway. If I'm right, then he'll be very interested."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but he did not voice any disagreement. Naruto knew his teacher probably had plenty of misgivings about what he was doing, but that was something to worry about another time. Right now, he had a mission to complete, and hopefully he could succeed in that, at least.

* * *

Only a few hours later, Naruto began to doubt if his plans were going to work out. Yes, all the Genin were accounted for, but now what? Kurenai had a future, and a pretty good one; this was most definitely not something that happened in his previous life, and he would not let her die, not if he could help it. .

He could still remember Kurenai and Asuma, before everything went downhill. That relationship, if it even existed yet at this point, was something he very much wanted to keep intact. If these Missing-Nin had taken her across the border and into Ame, then there were few things he could do. Nagato was there, in his persona of 'Pain', and he would doubtlessly search for her knowledge through his nastier techniques. Skills that would inevitably end in her death.

A meeting with Nagato was one confrontation he hoped to avoid for a while longer. Much like Itachi, he was not sure how he could approach such a person and get through to them. Even with the truth, he doubted that either would take him half as seriously as they should. With Nagato, it would be a miracle if he was even allowed to get close; with all those crossing fields of view through his Paths, even Naruto's best stealth tactics would be ineffectual. Perhaps he could defeat one or two of those, if he got lucky, but Naruto knew he would probably end up like Pervy Sage.

That left him with precious few options, should Kurenai have been taken across the border. He could send a mass of clones to Ame, and hope they could negotiate for Kurenai's release. Unfortunately, he did not have much to trade with for a hostage. Information, maybe, but what did he have that Nagato would want to know? There was one thing, which immediately occurred to him.

"Tobi's a fake," he said to himself in realization. He could tell them that. He could tell Nagato and Konan about the fake Uchiha Madara's actions, about how Nagato had received the Rinnegan, about the true culprits behind Yahiko's death. He could even tell them about their family connection, through the Uzumaki clan.

"What did you say?"

Naruto looked to Sasuke, who looked at him with sharp eyes. He rubbed the back of his head and smiled at the Uchiha. "Just thinking."

"You?" Sasuke snorted.

"Yeah, yeah, funny." He frowned as he looked at the billowing clouds in the distance, the perpetually terribly weather that seemed to cover all of Rain. "We're getting too close to the border," he said worriedly as he glanced to his teammates. "We can't just cross the border here. Ame's not an ally, and I've reason to believe they might be outright enemies if we trespassed into their country."

"What do we do, then?" Sakura questioned, looking at Naruto nervously. He ignored the obvious sign that she was not sure what to make of him; after the little spectacle with the fox, he was not too surprised.

"There's something that doesn't make sense, here," Naruto said. "The enemy took Kurenai, but not Hinata or Kiba? Hinata's a Hyūga of the Main Branch, which basically makes her a prize for Missing-Nin. Kiba's part of a clan as well, and the Inuzuka would do a lot to get one of their own back safely. Kurenai, well, she's a recent Jōnin, and not from a particularly famous family. Why her?"

"...What are you saying?"

"This was intentional," Naruto hypothesized. "The attack on Team 8 was about getting Kurenai. The rest wasn't as important as that. If she's not remarkably strong or famous, why would that be?"

"Information," Sasuke suggested.

"Right. Kurenai-sensei might know about Konoha's defences, and other important information that Chūnin wouldn't know. Why would a foreign nation want information on Konoha's defences, if not for bad purposes?" He frowned. "These Missing-Nin are planning something, and I'm out of the loop. With Sand and Sound in conflict, perhaps Rain thinks it can take advantage of the gap."

"Rain is too weak to take on Konoha," Sasuke said dismissively. "They are a small village, and it has been years since they were involved in any conflicts. They can't harm us."

"On its own, maybe not," Naruto agreed, though he had his doubts. "But how do we know they're alone? All these Missing-Nin are from Iwa. Is that a coincidence?"

"Iwa does have a grudge to settle," Sasuke murmured. "The Third Shinobi World War, for one. But it's been relatively peaceful for years."

Naruto nodded. "That was when Suna had our back. With their forces busy, Iwa might be taking a chance to lash out against our under-protected borders. To do more, though, they need to know the defences of the village itself. That's why they've been lurking around here, bothering small villages in the guise of bandits. They were angling for teams to get sent this way."

"It's a trap," Sakura breathed. "A trap for us, too!"

"Well-reasoned," A voice said jovially, and Naruto froze, his eyes snapping up immediately. He hadn't sensed anything. None of his clones had warned him of a new arrival, or even his senses. This was no Chūnin.

It was the person they had been tracking: Muneyoshi, the Jōnin Missing-Nin that had attacked Team 8. He walked easily down the side of the tree, his arms crossed and a haughty expression on his face. Disturbingly enough, he was not alone. Behind him and around him, like a small army, were over a dozen Shadow Clones: Naruto's Shadow Clones.

"What the hell...?"

"...What did you do, Dead Last?" Sasuke asked warily.

Each of the clones looked down at their original with a vague half-smile. All of their eyes were completely different from how they were supposed to be: For a crazy moment, Naruto thought they had the Sharingan. No, the pupils were merely blood-red, with the sclera almost black. Naruto recognized those eyes. They were the same as he had once seen at the Waterfall of Truth, when he was out to seek for control of the Kyūbi's chakra. The eyes of his darker side.

"Crap," Naruto breathed. "Mutiny."

"_Well_, Naruto-kun," Muneyoshi said with a strange smile. "It's nice to see you again. It seems that I will have to do the job myself, this time."

For a split second he feared that someone had followed him back, that someone knew. He ignored the chill that ran down his back as he considered alternatives. His heart raced as he stared at the Akatsuki member keeping sway over a dozen of his clones. It was not hard to make the connection when he realized what that control implied. The one clone that had so suddenly walked into Hidan's line of fire, that had brought a vial of his blood to the one person who could abuse it - he had been under this man's control.

"You." He snarled. Hidan might not have been a part of Akatsuki, but that had clearly not meant there were none of them around. "You tried to kill me!"

"Oh, someone such as you is not so easily murdered. We both know that," Muneyoshi said. He smiled as he looked at the clones behind him, and gestured lazily. "He's getting boring, don't you think? Please take him down for me, would you? Kill the others, they're a nuisance."

"Yes, Boss!" voices called from all around.


	19. Extensions of the Self

**Chapter 19 - Extensions of the Self**

The clones were fast – but Naruto was faster.

His hands whipped forward in an instant, sending a dozen kunai flying before the horde could reach him. They slashed through the air with a screech that resembled nails on a chalkboard, and two clones popped instantly as the vicious blades tore into them, unable to muster a defence, and a few others only barely avoided the projectiles.

No memories came to Naruto from the destroyed clones - only a vague sensation of confusion. Whatever was left, then, was too unlike him to integrate as any normal one would. He switched his aim, hurling a single knife as hard as he could, directly towards Muneyoshi. It whizzed by the man's ear as he leaned to the side; the blade cut straight through the trunk, and continued onwards. It was not a wasted blow, though - in the split second that his foe was distracted, Naruto's clones got in between his team and the dark-eyed versions of himself.

"Get behind me!" Naruto barked as he formed his favourite seal, and a dozen more shadow clones popped into existence around him, forming a wall that provided cover for his team. "Sasuke," he said sharply. "You've got the best eyes – protect Sakura's blind spots, and make sure you don't get ambushed. Sakura… I don't know where you got the strength from that you showed me, Kakashi must have been training you more than I expected - but use it to keep these bastards off you. Don't hold back even a little."

He turned as he reached for his hitai-ate, tightening it around his forehead, and in the same movement, conjured a dozen more clones to face off against their dark-eyed counterparts.

"If that's you, dark me – I thought we worked this out?" Naruto asked. "The waterfall of truth, you remember that? I figured we had our little face-off already? Really don't need a re-do when it would just end up like last time, right?"

The clones did not answer, staring balefully. They were definitely not his darker half, then – that vision of himself had been tragic, terribly familiar, and a part of him - as uncomfortable as that was. No, these were void, mindlessly obedient, empty. Slaves. He had _never_ had someone take over a clone without it popping instantly, not even when he sparred with Ino, who loved to use those kinds of tactics, especially when she became a Jōnin in her own right. This was something else. Still – he could deal with this. Compared to Madara, Itachi, or the Sasuke he remembered from the end of things, this guy was an upstart, a rookie.

Kakashi knew enough about his abilities, Naruto was sure, that he would be unsurprised about anything else he could throw out, here. Sasuke suspected things already, and Sakura could not be ignorant, given her intelligence. The fallout of channelling Kurama's chakra would probably be far greater than anything he could do now. He cracked his knuckles, and a ghost of a smile appeared.

"Clone squad – you're responsible for keeping my team safe," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "Sasuke, Sakura - I am a better bet to test this guy's strength, so I think you should let me handle this one. Conserve your chakra and be ready to team up when needed." Without waiting for a response, Naruto rushed to meet the enemy clones, with more of his own popping up around him, springing into formation without even a word.

Each of them sparked a _Rasengan _into existence, and the wave of death exploded forward at high speed. He glanced up at the Missing-Nin with a stormy expression as he wielded two wind-enhanced _Rasengan_ against the darkened clones, one in each hand, screeching with power. Then his clones barrelled in by the dozens, and all was chaos.

"_Kill them all."_

The dark-eyed copies wielded only their fists against the oncoming wall of destruction, but they were fast, _very_ fast, evading and ducking under the whirling chakra and delivering powerful Taijutsu attacks from odd angles. Naruto flashed forward again along with his clones, another wave of _Rasengans _swinging to meet the enemy. It was a simple strategy – but if these clones were even a little like him, then the sheer carnage would divert their attention from other, more vulnerable targets. Meanwhile, dozens of his clones looped around, looking for a fatal blow, moving like the wind or burrowing up from below.

The forest was lit in unnatural blue light as twelve _Rasengan_ detonated simultaneously, their grinding power utterly decimating the trees around them. Horrible tearing sounds echoed through the forest as huge trunks came crashing down from the sky, thundering to the ground with incredible force. Naruto was reminded of the Forest of Death, where a desperate Team 7 had faced off against Orochimaru. Muneyoshi, unlike that man, seemed content to watch Naruto deal with his traitorous clones from afar, uninterested in coming to fight himself. Or perhaps he was too weak to fight his own battles.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he considered that. He knew shinobi that fought by proxy, that avoided the field entirely, sending out surrogates in their stead. Nagato did so with his Paths of Pain, and puppeteers like Kankurō, or Sasori of the Akatsuki placed mechanical contraptions in their stead. This technique was not quite the same, but perhaps Muneyoshi stayed away for the same reasons as the others did; he was supporting the technique. He was the weak point.

Naruto plunged a chakra-laced kunai into a clone's trachea and popped it after a brief gurgle. He knew the clone should have been able to avoid that attack, since it was a very predictable assault - instead it had only pulled away at the last moment, too late to matter. That could only mean one thing – these clones did not have the memory of his techniques, or even his fighting style. That was good, since it meant that the Missing-Nin was probably unaware of the extent of his techniques. He could use that.

"It's that bloodline of his, that's how he's taking them over," Naruto murmured in realization. Chakra absorption, that was all the Bingo Book had mentioned, no details. Clearly it was meant far more literally than he had anticipated. Muneyoshi subverted techniques by taking over the underlying chakra, and then turned them back on the user with a vengeance. That sounded like an incredibly dangerous and powerful bloodline, capable of countering a vast array of techniques – yet Naruto had never heard about it before.

Either this guy was one of the only ones to have the _kekkei genkai_, some remnant of a barely known clan – or alternatively, the bloodline had a glaring weakness, something that made it a liability more than a boon to those who used it. Given the Missing-Nin's unwillingness to fight in person, Naruto would bet all of Tsunade's gambling money that it was the latter. Muneyoshi had a weakness, and his attack on Shino had to be the key to the whole thing. What about the Aburame had been so dangerous?

Naruto considered the attack on Team 8 – Muneyoshi had taken down Hinata after Shino was already down by using her Gentle Fist style against her. He had to have manipulated her chakra to attack its own tenketsu; that's why blood had erupted from her arm, which fit with his observations here. The Missing-Nin had also hit Kurenai-sensei with a single punch and knocked her down. She was a Genjutsu specialist – had he turned her illusions inwards, perhaps? In either case, there was only one possibility.

"You absorb a technique while it is still in use, don't you?" Naruto asked slowly, mildly amazed. "That's supposed to be impossible."

Muneyoshi sneered. "What you consider impossible is no concern, Leaf-nin," he said. "The Nine-Tail host has come to find me, then – quite an honour, even if you do not measure up to your brethren. Still, you will make quite the prize for the leader."

Naruto ignored the jibe, narrowing his eyes. He forced a few dozen more clones into existence, and for once, he actually felt the chakra drain of the technique, a little. It seemed he was actually overdoing things. Though his chakra reserves were huge, they were finite, and definitely smaller than what he was used to. He had dozens of clones running around, and a large group was protecting the Genin of Team 8 as well, which diminished that considerably; on top of those, some were on the hunt for Akamaru and Kurenai-sensei across the border with Ame. Healing Shino with Kurama's chakra had not helped matters either. He was actually getting to the point where he might run out.

_Crap._

He gestured forward sharply, and his clones pressed the attack on his behalf, smashing once more into the protective line of black-eyed clones, aiming for a knockout blow. Naruto turned to his team, and thankfully Sasuke and Sakura were fine, transfixed by the unfolding events. He ignored the din as he attracted their attention with a whistle. "Sasuke-"

"I remember," Sasuke yelled back, raising his fist, revealing a seal strip already on his forearm.

Naruto gave a quick nod as he readied himself for his best. Chakra poured into his muscles, reinforcing them, boosting his speed higher than they should have been able to handle. It was costly, especially as he was slowly running out of juice, but he used the boost to force himself up the bark of Muneyoshi's tree with great speed, evading the opposing clones with deft movements as he flung his hand forward with his fingers stretched out like a claw, chakra burning into existence on his fingertips. The sickles of chakra almost cut into his fingers as the concentrated wind chakra sought for something to eviscerate, but he could keep it together, if barely.

He smiled as he slashed his hand sideways in a crude imitation of the Kyūbi's claws, the invisible extensions of chakra tearing through the air with the force of a storm. Naruto had never really named this technique, since it was essentially an extension of his chakra control training, but he knew it was lethal. _Kabuto, eat your heart out! _

"Don't get so close, you idiot!" someone yelled, and Naruto realized only belatedly that it was one of his own clones, a loyal one. He tried to slow down; who were you going to trust, except yourself? The panicked clone in question overtook him with speed born of desperation, and slammed into him from the side just before he could reach Muneyoshi.

As Naruto caught himself from the sudden blindside, his attack went wildly off target. Muneyoshi grinned and caught the clone by its wrist, where Naruto's own would have been. Just then, Naruto's attack nicked it, and it burst into white smoke.

The world narrowed to a point.

* * *

_The light faded, and something seared through his veins like fire, tearing through his heart like a spear. His arm felt strange, like it had been dunked in ice water. There was blue light – some small sphere of power, far away, shimmering. _

_The light was bad. He was sure of it. It felt strange, alien, like some malevolent power. For an instant, Uchiha Madara crossed his mind, and the man with the orange mask. Then they vanished, and he wondered what an Uchiha was, and why he had been thinking about it._

_He was forgetting things, he realized suddenly. Important things. Crap. He was - He muttered a mantra to himself, hoping to keep steady. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, Jōnin of Konoha, ANBU veteran, Fūin... Uzumaki Naruto, ... of Konoha... He was from Konoha... _

_He looked down at his arm and wondered why he was looking at it, as his mind seemed to twitch in agitation. The limb looked strange to him, utterly grey and lifeless. _

Dead_. He stared up again at the light, and wondered. Was he dead? Was that light the afterlife, maybe? He felt that it was a bad place, though – he should not go there. Yet, what options did he have?_

"_Am I doomed to some hell?" He asked slowly, looking around. What was his name again? He was from Konoha, he knew, but who...? An image of a blond-haired man appeared to him momentarily, wearing a cloak with flames on the end and a kind smile. A woman appeared as well, with bright red hair. Then there was a little baby, with whisker marks on his cheek – who were they? Wait, what had he just been thinking about? Life? Had he lived? _

_There was nothing – only him and the light. _

_Well, there was no reason to wait around, he had nowhere else to go but up. He moved towards that bright blue spot, eyes wide in wonder, marvelling at what he might find on the other side. He stretched out a finger-_

_Wait... what were fingers, again? And eyes? _

_With a whimper, his consciousness vanished._

* * *

Naruto dropped to his knees in shock as his stomach revolted against the sudden barrage of images; instantly two clones landed in between him and Muneyoshi, kunai ready. Naruto shuddered as he realized he had received a memory of dying – a memory of disappearing into nothingness, directly from his clone. He had popped the clone an instant before its mind evaporated, and he had gotten what was left of it, its last horrible moments. He used the brief pause – Muneyoshi would certainly assume he had never experienced near-death before – to come to a solid conclusion.

Muneyoshi's bloodline needed physical touch to work, and his clone had figured that out before him!

He could _definitely _not fight this guy at close range.

"You're a freak!" Naruto accused with feigned horror, as a disturbing hypothesis made a roaring comeback. He jumped back a ways to make some room, though he stuck to the side of the tree. "I didn't even know that was _possible_… to actually wipe a clone's mind!"

Muneyoshi scoffed. "What use is a slave, whenit has a mind of its own? Don't patronize me, boy," he said, and his smile evaporated. "You dispel them without even a thought of their minds. Why would you ever consider their well-being? You brainwash them with your own personality, with the delusional belief that they are versions of you, rather than a vague imitation given life only by proxy." He shook his head. "It is irrelevant. If you had simply died the first time, you and the Ichibi Jinchūriki, this whole mess would never have been necessary. Instead, you struggle, and you heap punishment upon yourself."

Naruto nodded, a hypothesis confirmed, and he grit his teeth. "So you _did_ try to kill me, huh? You controlled my clone and made it help Hidan, made it bring blood to the one who could use it. _You_. Tell me – did you make that seal, too, the great one imprinted into the soil? It seemed to absorb chakra, like you do." He frowned. "You are in Akatsuki, aren't you? Where are your cloak and your fancy ring? And why are you after me? Your group doesn't want me dead. Quite the opposite – don't you want what I carry within me? Tell me, what is _your_ motivation?"

"I don't have to explain myself to a brat, much less to a Jinchūriki," Muneyoshi answered coldly, scowling. "It was your kind that made international relations so unstable that we were necessary. Those like you are a perpetual massacre waiting to be unleashed, making every negotiation a matter of fear and injustice." He shook his head. "It was through unchecked power that the destabilization began. The Jinchūriki were not the engines of equality, but the creators of war, their power too great to contain. It would be better if you died, if the Bijū were gone, and the world found peace."

"That doesn't answer my question," Naruto said after a moment. "You attacked Team 8, and apparently you brought their sensei to the Land of Rain. Kurenai – where did you take her? Did you bring her to _him? _To this leader of yours?"

Muneyoshi sniffed. "I don't care for your insinuations about my motives. And your little team was unlucky – I came across them by chance. I was searching for someone else, and they crossed my path. Their sensei made a suitable gift."

"Nagato is going to kill you for attempting to murder me," Naruto replied, and he smirked at the man's sudden stare.

"How do you know that name...?" He scowled. "So, I see. You have infiltrated the Village of Rain, then. I thought Konoha was more honourable these days, but it seems that even your people could not hesitate to return to these killing grounds." He shook his head. "I remember, you know. I remember Konoha's massacre in the Village of Rain, when the village burned."

Naruto blinked. "Did Nagato tell you about _that_? There were only a few survivors…"

"Nagato, Konan…" Muneyoshi shrugged. "I did not hearabout it, as you say. I _lived_ it."

Naruto was not sure what to say to that, cocking his head to the side. He had never heard of survivors besides the three orphans that Jiraiya had come across. He wondered if Nagato knew this person - and whether or not killing him would have unfortunate consequences. Last time around, Jiraiya had done it - and then ended as a victim of the Paths of Pain. "I don't come to apologize for past wrongs that were done before my time," Naruto said sharply. "We came here to help another team. We already have the Genin - if you let Kurenai go, then we can end this whole mess without more bloodshed. If you want an all-out fight, I can give that to you after this is over; just leave the others out of it. We can arrange a date and a place, and I will be there. I give you my word."

Muneyoshi snorted. "So that you can conscript your ANBU? Do you think I'm mad?"

"I would come alone – I never go back on my word." Naruto said flatly, narrowing his eyes. "You don't get it, do you? I'm being charitable." He shook his head. "If you kill me here, and Nagato finds out - he will destroy you. Alternatively, if I win, and I think I will, odds are you'll die."

He glanced westwards, then. "I have clones who can reach Nagato far quicker than even you could. I'm sure his Paths will destroy them with ease, but not before he finds out about your betrayal. Give me Kurenai, and you can prepare your departure, find a way to escape the influence of the organization."

"Or what? You think a Genin has a chance against me?" The Nin scoffed. "You don't control the power of the creature you carry. I can feel it. I can sense from here that you are tiring, that your chakra's dwindling. You may be very good for your rank, but so am I." He raised a hand, and one of the possessed clones landed next to him, standing at attention. "These clones of yours, they're responsive, even for Shadow Clones. I imagined they would be an issue, but they're quite pliable." He smiled, and put a hand on its shoulder. Quite suddenly its eyes turned to blue on white, indistinguishable from the real deal. Naruto froze as the implications sunk in.

"I see that you understand," Muneyoshi continued mockingly. "Misdirection is a vital tactic for a shinobi - you thought you could tell my clones apart from your own. Think again. Before I arrived here, I changed more than a dozen of your clones into mine, and sent them on their way. Do you think your little friends will notice the difference in time, Uzumaki?"

Naruto snarled as he raised his hands, still alight with chakra. "That's a cute trick, but if you think you can treat me like an imbecile, you should be prepared to eat your words." He refused to gaze in the direction that Team 8 was hiding, knowing that his gestures could give them away. Still, he was calm enough to reason that Muneyoshi would not have easy access. The clones that guarded Team 8 were even more alert than the ones right here, and would question any newcomers, just as he would.

He had learned enough. He pushed off against the tree, falling quickly, enjoying the sensation for a split second before he landed neatly besides Sakura and Sasuke, in complete control of his movements the entire way down. He had his arms to his side before the dark-eyed clones surged forward to reach him, focusing his chakra into his attack. He gathered far more than he had ever attempted in training, for fear of the damage that could be inflicted.

"_Fūton: Kaibutsu Nakigoe!"_

There was no sound, at first. A ripple travelled upwards through the air, warping even the sunlight; for a moment a band of intense chakra spanned all across the sky. It crashed upwards along the trees and the pile of broken trunks and torn-up root systems and it ripped them to shreds as it passed – the shockwave kept moving, and even the echoes tore apart the bark around them as the whole mass travelled inexorably, and very quickly, towards Muneyoshi's position. Only then did the noise start – a grating, horrible sound, resembling a thousand trees cracking and breaking – which was not very far from the truth.

The wave hit with the sound of a gong - Naruto followed Muneyoshi's frenzied flight for as long as he could, before the first echoes of his blast returned to him - in a moment, he knew he would need to protect himself, or face death at his own technique. Bark was ripped from the trees, layer by layer, as they were torn apart by the pressure differential, and a great rain of twigs and broken wood filled the sky with debris and dust, obscuring his view.

In all that destruction, in a jutsu that was so ludicrous in scale that he could feel his legs wobbling - it had managed to stretch _his _over-sized chakra coils - he knew that the target had gotten away. _Fuck._

He really needed to stop holding back.

"_Fūton: Shahei Kabe!" _Naruto barked, almost collapsing to his knees from the drain, and a wall of whirling air spun into existence an inch from his hand, a shield of air resembling a huge flattened Rasenshuriken, wide and only partially transparent. The whole thing was thin as a knife but broad enough to cover him as well as his two teammates from the reverberations that could shatter bones, and he propped himself up against it as best as he could. It took only a few moments for the buffeting to slow down, for the intense pressure to dissipate, and he slowly dropped his technique, breathing heavily as he nursed his shoulder, which had supported the construct. That had cost him more than a quarter of his remaining chakra – and he could not even sense the fox's.

_Double crap_.

"Dead Last-" Sasuke said from behind him, sounding a little shaken. "What the _hell-_"

He turned slightly, smiling sheepishly. "Yes, I know, I'm sort of not your usual Genin. Can we discuss it later? I'm kind of busy right now."

Sasuke sniffed, but a thin smile appeared anyway, as if Naruto's words had finally confirmed something he'd known all along. Naruto didn't doubt it, and he could not keep his grin hidden, even when he sensed something unwelcome at the edge of his perception - his attack had not been enough.

"Watch it- !" he cried, just as Muneyoshi reappeared, his hand outstretched with a long knife clutched in a bloodied fist - he looked terrible. A long gash ran down his arm, seemingly interrupted at intervals by horizontal tears, and Naruto recognized the damage. Direct exposure to his attack - the skin and the layers of flesh beneath it had only barely survived contact. Whatever technique the man had used - it was powerful, and costly. Unfortunately, so was another attempt at that jutsu. The man seemed to gather himself for a split second, then aimed his grasping hand at his enemy's shoulder - and Naruto was slow in evading the hit, still winded from his own assault.

A fireball streaked by his shoulder. Naruto almost jumped in panic before he realized who had sent it on its away; the flaming projectile gave him just enough time to avoid the Missing-Nin's attack, ending up sprawled on the ground. The billowing red-hot flames spread out across half a dozen of his clones and charred Muneyoshi's clothes before they finally petered out. Sasuke panted and rubbed his throat after the huge attack, but he grinned in satisfaction. Sakura jumped in at that moment, placing her fist squarely in the Jonin's face - and that punch was so hard that Naruto could practically feel his own jaw aching in response. Muneyoshi backed away, nursing his arm and a richly bleeding nose, before a dozen dark-eyed clones made their way in between him and Team 7.

"We can't trust my clones anymore," Naruto snapped. "Back to back!" As he turned to cover his team's flank, he prepared several kunai, quickly tying seals to the end that he had in pockets all across his jacket. He tapped Sasuke on his shoulder and quickly passed one of the knives along, filling his own with chakra as he did. "Charge and throw it when I do, and then duck. I mean it." He paused. "Sakura - ration pills - give me three."

Sakura obeyed instantly, biting her lip. "Too many - "

Naruto ignored her warning, swallowing all three at once - Kurama would handle any damage he would do to himself - and he steeled himself. He felt Sakura and Sasuke literally against his back as the enemy clones surrounded them, looking for a weaknesses. Naruto had no choice; if he could not trust his clones, then they were of no use, just as much a boon as a liability. With a single gesture, he dispersed all of his own that were still in the clearing. More than a dozen clones vanished, but six of the remainder turned on him, their eyes bleeding to black, eerie smiles appearing on their faces. Six infiltrators had snuck in without being noticed - Muneyoshi was _good._

"Stay close to me. Avoid physical contact!" Naruto ordered, glad to note that his team did not even hesitate to follow his instructions - even if they might have their misgivings. Proper teamwork - that was key, here. He whirled a kunai around his finger, and then threw it in a seemingly lax manner. Sasuke did the same, and it took Naruto only an instant to lock onto the fragment of fūinjutsu bound around that kunai's handle as well. He used his free hand to make a one-handed seal, and then he released the technique, smirking.

"_Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" _

Three dozen kunai slashed through the air, spinning end over end as they whizzed at the enemy. "Duck!" Naruto yelled as he dropped to the ground, and the others followed immediately; a layer of wind burst into existence over them, and only just in time.

"_Katsu."_

The explosion was enormous and deafening, and for a moment it was as bright as the sun, vaporizing trees and soil alike as the shockwave moved outward and into the distance; not nearly as powerful as the one he had made before, but the explosion was powerful enough for it not to make a difference. The fireball exploded overhead, bursting outward with ferocity and tearing apart clones with ease - some attempted to make their way into the surrounding shrubbery - only for there to be no such thing a moment later. Fire licked at what remained of the surroundings, which was quickly becoming the newest clearing in the forest. In the middle of it, keeping up a thin shield of chakra, was Naruto, his hair whipping around wildly in the wind.

He heard Sakura suck in a breath behind him, and smiled victoriously as he turned slightly. That had been no ordinary exploding tag, but a heavy-duty Jōnin variety, with a little twist of his own attached; technically this seal had not been invented yet. The clearing was empty, save for the three Konoha genin - mostly because there was no more clearing. They stood on the edge of a gigantic crater, at least a few dozen meters wide, completely blanketed by a thick haze of vaporized trees and simmering fires.

"Sasuke? Sakura?"

"We're alive," the Uchiha replied, sounding a little winded, as he stood up and brushed off his soot-covered clothes "Those seals of yours are _way_ too chakra-intensive, just so you know that. _Seriously._"

Naruto winced, realizing his mistake; he had made these seals with Sasuke in mind, true, but the future Sasuke was a _lot_ more capable than the present one. He doubted the older version would even get winded from using overpowered fireballs or explosions, considering how much he spammed his favourite eye-techniques. "I guess you're right - I'll fix them up later. Now - this guy's serious business, and still not dead yet. Get ready."

The Missing-Nin, as if to confirm that assessment, stepped out of the billowing smoke with a soft tread, clapping softly. He was bleeding from dozens of small cuts, and his face was practically a single huge bruise, courtesy of one awfully strong Kunoichi. Still, he smiled, and he moved unhindered.

"Those were remarkable techniques - though I'm sure that it's not one you can repeat often, even with your ludicrous chakra reserves." Two black-eyed clones dropped in next to the man. "Did you really think that I would reveal my technique's ability to replicate your appearance, only to have you destroy them all moments later?" He shook his head. "I'm afraid that many are already tracking down the captives I lost. By the time you reach them, they'll be dead."

Naruto gritted his teeth, raising his hand. "If that is how you want to play it, so be it. Release them – or I'll-"

"Or _what?_" Muneyoshi snapped.

Naruto thought back to Hidan, taunting his clones and almost butchering his real self - and killing the medical-nin that has sacrificed his life to save him. He gritted his teeth. "Release them, or I'll cut your head off, like I did to yourchatty friend," he spat, and he heard Sasuke and Sakura start at his vehemence. He was silent for a long moment. "You killed a good man - I know you did. Without you, Hidan could never have gotten access to my blood; you took over my clone, and caused all of that to happen." He narrowed his eyes. "I blame myself, but you were just as responsible. Hidan's out of the picture. Now it's your turn."

Muneyoshi snorted derisively, his wounded arm still bleeding slightly - but it was no disabling wound. He could still go on - but Naruto could already feel his chakra returning, at least a little. He still had at least five times as much as he probably ought to have. He could go on for a little while still. He snarled, and any mercy he was willing to give to a survivor of the Rain massacre vanished as two spheres of screeching energy burst alight in his palms.

"_Fūton: Rasenrengan!_"

* * *

"We must have crossed the border a while ago, I reckon," one of Naruto's clones muttered as he glanced aside at its eight brethren who were travelling along a small stream, one of many that gushed forth from Amegakure. "It's not raining yet, but I'm not sure how far Nagato's reach is, so it could be that he's already aware of us."

"Let's not assume he's ignorant, at least. I mean, he's _Nagato. _I'm pretty sure that he's the only person who could have gone toe-to-toe with freaking Madara, if he was at full power. That Rinnegan is ridiculous," a second clone responded. "Still, the Boss clearly intended us to go all the way into Ame, or he wouldn't have sent us in the first place... Kurenai-sensei has to be in here somewhere, and if we can get her out, then we can still succeed in the mission. That's the only thing we should be worrying about. If that means dealing with Nagato early, then that's what we'll have to do. It's not like he can do anything terribly permanent to us." He shrugged.

The first nodded. "Fan out, and keep an eye out for any uninvited guests," he ordered, gesturing to his sides. "Kurenai was probably taken into the village itself, and we all know that we're not going to out-sneak Pervy Sage, not when Nagato's still got his superior sensory jutsu active. He will find us the moment we step into the rain, and he won't wait long to dispatch some of his puppet-bodies. We don't have much of a choice."

"Those Paths will pop us on the spot," a third murmured dejectedly.

"Perhaps. If so, then we know that much about Nagato's state of mind," the first agreed. "I doubt he will, though, considering his actions in the past. Information is far more important to him than knocking out chakra constructs, and we have enough to share with him, should it come to that. Perhaps we can have him hear us out if we don't even try to be sneaky. Who knows?"

The second clone sighed. "Man, I really don't want to be here."

"None of us do, but getting into this mess will have to be the price for getting Kurenai-sensei back. It was our own mistakes that led to her capture in the first place, it's our duty," the first argued. "I will take first duty - if he pops me, then I expect one of you to continue the conversation. Either way, try to avoid the Path that can absorb chakra - I'm not sure if the memories would reach the boss if we got caught by that one. Above all, boss needs information."

The Land of Rain was quite small compared to the Land of Fire, and its Hidden Village was surprisingly easy to reach, so the real Naruto had been here often enough in his old life to get a pretty good idea of where everything was. The rain clouds high above were rumbling ominously, and Naruto knew that within the walls of the hidden village, Nagato manipulated the weather to give him constant rainfall. Each drop was saturated with a little chakra – enough for him to get a bead on any intruders, and he had six bodies, ready to deploy at a moment's notice. It was a nightmare for anyone trying to sneak in, which Jiraiya had found out in the worst of circumstances. This was where he had died, the first time around. That would not happen again.

The cursed rain started to fall barely ten minutes later, and the first clone, who had taken charge of the squad, perched himself on the outermost wall of the village, unconcerned by the water that immediately started dripping through his orange-and-black uniform, chilling him to the bone. Meeting with Nagato would probably be messy, but trying to literally break Kurenai out was about as plausible as running up to Tobi and asking him to knock off the world domination schemes, or maybe bribing him with a bowl of ramen.

Lightning flashed through the sky and the rain seemed to intensify suddenly – the clone ignored it, staring out into the gloomy streets curiously, knowing that he had received Nagato's attention. He realized that he had never really visited when Akatsuki was in charge, here; he had heard stories from the toad that had accompanied Jiraiya on his last mission, but it had been a broken ruin by the time that Konoha had once more sent troops across the border. Though the streets were silent, he could see villagers moving across, wearing thick protective clothing. This village was still alive, still surviving even under Akatsuki's unflinching dominion – perhaps he could spare the inhabitants from their grizzly fate in the Fourth war.

Between one thunderclap and the next, three of the Paths of Pain appeared, standing on the wet street dressed in their dark cloak with red clouds, their faces studded with piercings that facilitated their connection with Nagato. Naruto's clone had expected them, and was only momentarily surprised, ruthlessly suppressing his urge to get away very, very quickly. Imagining the Nagato he knew lurked inside Pain helped to mitigate the Killing Intent that was sent in his direction, though he could still only barely suppress a shiver.

The orange-haired Paths with pallid skin stared at him with oddly neutral expressions. The Deva Path stood at the front of their little phalanx, the one-time body of Yahiko. Flanking him stood two others, each with long orange hair. Before Naruto could figure out a way to greet an S-rank terrorist without sounding completely foolish, Nagato spoke through Yahiko's form. "Who are you, Konoha shinobi?"

Not a question of why he was there, then – Nagato had probably already received Kurenai as a prisoner, and was unsurprised by Konoha support troops coming to retrieve her, at least in principle. He probably had not expected someone to just walk in. If Kurenai had been dead, Nagato would likely not have bothered with coming out, simply dumping her body on the street; that meant he was probably still in time. Good. The clone slipped off the wall and landed lightly, nodding in recognition to the Deva Path as his eyes briefly wandered over the other two.

Well - he might as well be honest, now that he'd gone this far. Lying to Nagato's face seemed like a terrible way to start things, considering they had become something like allies in the other timeline. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto - from Konoha, yes. You are the Paths of Pain – well, some of them, anyway."

"Uzumaki, you say…?" The Path narrowed his eyes. "You are a Shadow Clone."

"And you are an extension of your true self as well," Naruto replied easily. "It's fitting that we meet like this, I guess. The boss has good reasons to stay out of sight, just as you have for keeping your real body hidden, Nagato. Precautions, if you will, to prevent our worst sides from coming out to play." He saw the Path's eyes flash, with anger or surprise. "I come to talk, not to fight. It wouldn't be very interesting, anyway, like this."

The Deva Path seemed to consider the answer, setting a step forward, followed silently by its two counterparts. "Does Konoha have spies among my forces, that you know my true name? You spill such things so easily, and you step into my rain as if you knew its properties before you came here." He reached out slowly, and the clone knew full well that the terrifying gravitational attacks could be unleashed in an instant, blasting him to bits. "Why should I not crush you where you stand? What is your purpose?"

The clone bolstered his courage, and stepped forward. It was easier than he'd expected - probably because he knew that the boss would be unharmed, whatever happened. "Be a little more charitable to your guests, please. Konan would disapprove of acting too hastily," the clone said as he smiled at the Deva Path's slight pause. It was subtle, but shocking such a powerful individual was a small joy in itself.

"Do not avoid my questions."

Naruto nodded, and for a moment, he focused. A single burst of natural chakra, momentary, rippled outwards. If the Path noticed, he did not betray so, as it travelled onward unimpeded. He sensed nobody but the Paths and clones - the villagers had already fled further down the village, no doubt. He relaxed, a little. "Alright. Truth is, I thought we would be able to understand each other, as students of the same sensei. Besides, you know that violence for its own sake is pointless, right?" He smiled slightly. "If you destroy me, there are others around who can take my place, and in the end all you do is dissipate chakra." Half a dozen of his fellow clones showed themselves on the wall behind him, arrayed like his own Paths, and the Deva Path took a moment to look at them. Naruto was convinced, right then, that the Paths were fully aware of everything around them - far more than Naruto could manage. Between the rain and the three pairs of Rinnegan, there was no wonder that some would consider someone near-omniscient like that god-like.

"Who _are _you, truly?" the Deva Path asked.

"I told you the truth about my name - Uzumaki Naruto. I know we share a heritage, an Uzumaki ancestor, and we both studied under the same teacher as well, Jiraiya of the Sannin. I hoped I could call on your better nature to return one of Konoha's Jōnin-sensei, who was taken by one of your people. I want to bargain for her safe return. I offer information – far more valuable than that which can be obtained from a fresh Jōnin like her."

"The woman is nothing to me," Nagato answered coolly. "She was brought here as a gift. Her loss would mean little, but I will demand a high price from those who would so brazenly walk into this village." He paused. "If the information you supply is insufficient, she will die."

Naruto's clone had an urge to roll his eyes. "Free her, and I will tell you what I can. I know about your eyes, and their origins, for one, and I have information you might wish to know about the person who is leading you on like a dog on a leash. The so-called Uchiha Madara."

The Path hissed, and gestured. A fourth Path appeared almost instantly - the machine-like one that seemed to perpetually smile. Under its arm was the unconscious form of Kurenai, tied and bound. She was dropped to the ground, and Naruto could see her breathe, very slowly. "_Speak_."

"I suppose that will have to do." Naruto's clone frowned, his eyes fixing on the vaguely purple Rinnegan without fear; having seen those eyes turned to him in hate and indifference, he rather appreciated the overt curiosity that seemed to be reflected in them now. "The most important information should go first, then," he said, steeling himself, hoping that the boss would approve, even as he knew that he was the closest thing to a reflection. "I know that a masked man came to you, Yahiko and Konan, many years ago. He came to speak to you of the future - you already had your eyes, your Rinnegan, and he told you that his name was Uchiha Madara."

The Deva Path paused. "_How?"_

"That man you met, the true leader of Akatsuki, he is using you to his questionable ends," the clone continued. "He's asking for your assistance in his schemes, which he has doubtlessly decided are in your benefit as well. He manipulates you through your desire for peace – or more precisely, in order to create that which _he_ considers peace. He does not want to make people stop war, as you do, by constraining their actions. He means to do it by constraining their will."

"Explain." The Path lowered his arm, and Naruto wondered if he saw a spark of the real Nagato in those dead eyes. "Quickly."

Naruto nodded. "This masked man – he wishes to subjugate the world to his own imagination. He intends to control the minds of everyone in the world to fit within a fake world of his own devising, a world in which everyone is subservient to his own desires. That's not peace, that's _slavery._ He wants to do it by capturing the Jinchūriki, not to create that which no nation can control, but to extract their Tailed Beasts, and cast the most powerful illusion possible. He means to become the Jinchūriki of the most powerful creature in existence. The Jūbi. He means to use your eyes."

Nagato's extension paused. "My eyes. Why?"

"The Rinnegan," the clone explained. "The eyes you have now... They are not your own."

The Path faltered visibly. "_What?_"

Naruto walked forward until he was only two arm-lengths from the Deva Path, and the shock on Yahiko's face was certainly a reflection of Nagato's own. "I know that Jiraiya-sensei believed you to be the reincarnation of the Sage of the Six Paths, Nagato, for having those eyes naturally. The power of the Rinnegan, however, does not appear so suddenly. In reality, you are of the Senju lineage, of the Uzumaki, just like me. Your eyes are from the Uchiha side instead, descended from the Sage through another path. Those eyes were transplanted into you when you were young."

The Path shook his head. "Impossible! Why? By whom?"

Naruto paused, grimacing. "The person who transplanted them,meant to use you in the same fashion as the Masked Man does - and they work together. You have access to a technique, a special use of the Rinnegan, which allows you to resurrect the dead – truly bring them back, not as mere shells that a spirit can inhabit, but fully. The person in question was dying, and he required someone who could use his eyes to bring him back, as he was unable to do it himself. He was the _true_ Uchiha Madara. You were seen as a means to an end by him, and by others, who have taken up his name. It should end."

The Path stared with narrowed eyes. "You were not present at these events."

"I was not," the clone agreed. "The source of my information is irrelevant, right now - you can confirm my claims by yourself, I believe. One reason why I came here is that I know Akatsuki is getting ready to begin their plans – and I cannot allow Konoha to become a target." He met each of the Paths' eyes in turn. "I will make a bargain with you. I will give you all the information I can – and if you find it to be false, then the deal is off. In exchange, I want Kurenai - and peace between Konoha and Ame. What do you say?"

* * *

"This is not what I want to be doing - definitely not." Jiraiya rocked back, frowning, his eyes flickering over the scroll. "Sensei - let nobody tell you that you went soft in your old age. You still have that bastard streak..."

Jiraiya sighed, glad that the Third was not actually in the room - he would probably get chided about etiquette again, a consistent refrain from his younger years. Considering the old man's opinions on his habits, despite being a closet pervert himself, it was honestly sort of tiring at this point.

And the world had gone crazy.

He stood, clasping the paper under his arm, as he wiped his long white hair out of his face. For the last few days, he had been studying a seal - A seal he didn't know - and that still looked familiar. Not Kushina's style, definitely, he knew that well enough to tell the difference. It resembled Minato's, though he had never gotten all the intricacies of his student's unique methods, even if he was one of his teachers in the esoteric art. Not for the first time he regretted being away from the village so often.

Still, how could he have known that he would lose his student so early? His most promising one, too. He sighed, wondering why he was thinking of those days, knowing that they were gone. Minato wasn't coming back.

Still...

"You're being an idiot," he muttered to himself, more out of habit than anything. Without Tsunade around to chastise him, it was easy to fall into the habit of overestimating oneself - he did have quite a reputation. With recent events, though, his calm life had gone rather topsy-turvy. He put the seal away - something to worry about, later. Perhaps he would contact the toads, and get their opinion. His mind wandered to more immediate problems.

Sarutobi had met with Shimura Danzō - and far from Jiraiya's expectation that it would be a quick decision, involving the former tossing the latter into the nearest prison, they had locked themselves away for the better part of two days - and even Hiruzen's council, his old teammates, were getting curious now. Shikaku Nara had coincidentally wandered by, too, but that was even more transparent. It was unusual - and it was worrying. Jiraiya knew he would be responsible for taking over the Root group, and the thought made him queasy.

Even if that had been all, though, one question kept running around in his mind as he thought back to that moment when the bandaged warhawk was brought to the Hokage's office.

Why had Danzō been _smiling?_

* * *

**Author's Note :** Hey folks. I know it's been a while - sorry 'bout that. Real life has been busy and I've been otherwise engaged with various things, but my stories are still active.

For this one, the next chapter finishes this arc, dealing with the finale of the Team 7 fight, what happened with the clones and Team 8, and Naruto finds out what his clones have been doing behind his back (really, he should have a better grasp of his own personality...)

After this is over, we're gonna deal with the Third, Jiraiya and Danzo - that's what's been building as you probably noticed. Should be fun. Also - Sasuke and Sakura get to kick ass next chapter. Woo!

_Fūton: Shahei Kabe _- Wind Release: Shield Wall_  
__Fūton: Kaibutsu Nakigoe _- Wind Release: Monster's Cry  
_Fūton: Rasenrengan _- Wind Release: Rasengan Barrage_  
_


	20. Beyond Control

**Chapter 20 - Beyond Control**

Sakura raised her arms by instinct when, in a burst of dirt and smoke, Naruto launched back at Muneyoshi. Two _Rasengans_ blazed in his hands, blue-white, and their passage was heralded by a terrifying screech. Naruto yelled something indecipherable, then forced Muneyoshi back with a barrage of wind-elemental attacks that shattered what was left of the surroundings. The wind whipped wildly around Sakura, who watched helplessly as Naruto stormed out alone.

For a moment, Sasuke and she were alone again - but that moment of calm did not last very long. Muneyoshi's Shadow Clones, the perverted versions of Naruto's own, were everywhere, and she and Sasuke were quickly caught up in combat again, although these enemies were more manageable than a Jōnin.

One of the clones, diverted from Naruto's whirlwind passage, turned on her. Sakura could only barely keep in a squeak as she avoided an uppercut that seemed like it could have taken her head off, delivered by a deliriously grinning clone. Before she could retaliate, Sasuke was there - he dug a kunai deep into the clone's chest and tore it apart into smoke and whiffs of chakra. As he passed, he glanced at her momentarily, the corners of his lips turned up, before he launched himself at the next clone in the same smooth motion. He sliced the next one's neck open before it could do anything, and it too dissipated in a wave of white smoke.

_Sasuke-kun is so freaking cool!_

Sakura ignored her urge to yell or squeal, chastising herself for the distraction though she could not stop the spring in her step as she reoriented herself. With Muneyoshi distracted, she could afford to take a deep breath and rationally consider what to do next. She could not see Naruto anymore; he was the only one out of all of his duplicates that spoke more than a word or two. She knew where Sasuke was, though - he butchered one clone after the other with a skill level of Taijutsu that she could not hope to emulate - not yet. Wielding a kunai in each hand, he flung himself among them without mercy, and his Sharingan whirled madly in the fray.

_What do we do to get out of this...?_ Sakura, not for the first time, wondered what the heck they were doing out here, fighting shinobi that were far higher in rank than any of them, except perhaps Kakashi-sensei - though Naruto was probably up there. A fresh Genin team, barely trained, was pitted against an A-Rank Missing-Nin on their first mission. It was _insane._ If it had not been for Naruto's preposterous array of skills that he pulled out of absolutely nowhere, there was a good chance that the team would have been split up and beaten down by sheer numbers already. And then there was the Kyūbi to worry about.

Where the _hell_ was Kakashi-sensei? Sakura's eyes roamed through the treetops at the edge of the newly-formed crater, or to what remained of them; for a good distance around the clearing, everything was crushed and snapped foliage. If their teacher was out there, hiding in the bushes, she was not going to find him if he didn't want to be found. It was telling that he let things go on for this long, actually, even on a mission that had Naruto taking the lead - Kakashi-sensei had to have a reason - and she suspected she knew what it was.

A trial by fire.

Sakura sighed. She had to admit that if _anyone _had a shot at getting everyone out of here alive, it had to be Naruto. Neither she nor Sasuke were throwing around techniques half as as ludicrously powerful as he was.

A huge pillar of smoke dominated the huge crater, a remnant of Naruto's overpowered wind-element attack, and she thought she saw an orange-and-black flash among the billowing clouds of dust, lashing out with a whirling attack that made her teeth ache with its sheer intensity. Naruto was kicking some serious ass.

_Alright - maybe he's a little cool too. _

Sakura launched herself from behind cover, and her fist lashed out at an orange blot that came too close in his attempt to get back to its master's side - the clone looked at her with a betrayed expression, and for a moment she thought she'd hit the real one - then he popped out of existence, and Muneyoshi was down one slave. She mentally thanked Sasuke for her new gloves, as each of the metal studs that covered her knuckles was already getting blunt and deformed, and she could not imagine what would have happened to her unprotected fists. As it was, blood dripped from under the protective plates, though it did not look very serious. She could take more.

In an uncomfortable moment that sent a shiver down her back, she thought of the Chūnin she had attacked with these gloves - likely the source of the rusty bloodstains that covered it. She had killed that person. She had misjudged her strength, perhaps, but her attack had done what she intended from the start. Sasuke had been serious, and in that moment he had almost been killed - she had done what she needed to. Until that moment, she honestly had no idea she had even had it in her. When it was do or die, though, she had struck.

She would not be the dead weight of the team. _Hell yeah!_

The thought got her moving again, joining Sasuke in destroying Muneyoshi's reinforcements before they could reach Naruto - the copies were capable, but one-on-one they were just slippery targets, and Sasuke was very quick when he put his mind to it. If Sakura had to guess, Muneyoshi was distracted, and the clones suffered without directions. Using that to her advantage, Sakura forced them together into groups, where Sasuke could wipe them out with even a minor _Katon_ assault.

"Sakura! Stay close!" Sasuke barked, and she quickly followed his movement, glancing momentarily at the cloud of dust and debris as she wondered whether or not Kakashi-sensei would interrupt when things turned sour - even Naruto would have to be tired by now. Ignoring that worrying thought, she flung herself to Sasuke's side, and could only barely prepare herself when she saw him reach for his forearm. With a flash of incredible power, an instant of unbearable heat, a massive blue-white fireball streaked across the battlefield, turning soil to glass and dirt to ash, and it took her only a moment to realize what Sasuke had been aiming at.

Barely forty feet away, far too close for comfort, dozens of clones flickered into existence, trying desperately to escape in a frenzied attempt to prevent their demise - but the thundering impact of the _Katon_ missile utterly decimated them, and added another crater to the landscape, smoking.

"I saw them sneaking up," Sasuke said between laboured breaths, his Sharingan twirling madly. "Genjutsu - I managed to see through it with my dōjutsu, so I got them in time, but..." He winced, rubbing his head. "If I do any more of those attacks, I'll collapse... You?"

"I'm still good," Sakura replied, and she nodded. Using her chakra only for her Taijutsu attacks, even her pitiful reserves could hold out for a little while - and she was pretty sure that a Military Rations Pill would be overkill for her, so she had to conserve it. Normally, those supplies were meant to allow one to fight for days on end, if necessary - she doubted her chakra system could even handle that, and Sasuke and Naruto used far too much chakra to make it more than a stopgap, adding a few minutes to their stamina. "If Naruto can't take out that Muneyoshi guy - he'll just make more clones, I imagine, so it's a pointless fight..." She frowned. "Or does he have to take over each one in turn?"

"I haven't seen him make any new ones at all. I don't understand - where are they coming from?"

Sakura felt a chill run down her back. "There's only one way - he's calling them all back," she said, before she had fully processed that thought. She frowned. "Wait - why wouldn't he make his own, since he's an A-Rank shinobi? If he can take over clones, and he's that good, surely he can -" She glanced at Sasuke in surprise. "The Shadow Clone is supposed to be pretty costly in terms of chakra - so he's using Naruto's because Naruto has lots of it. But, perhaps he can't make new ones without depleting his reserves - or perhaps he can't use chakra? Have you seen him use any of his own?"

Sasuke frowned. "A shinobi that can't use... chakra? That seems unlikely." His gaze lashed over to the centre of the battle-field, to the glassy sheen that he had made with his latest attack. "What about the Genjutsu that the clones used, then?"

It took Sakura only moments to make the connection, and her breath hitched. Between Naruto's observation that the Missing-Nin took over other people's chakra, and the fact that Team 8 had fallen to this man, the answer was obvious. "It has to be _Kurenai-sensei," _she hissed. "That's how he's doing it - he's copying other people's jutsu and using them! Naruto's clones, Kurenai-sensei's illusion, probably others. He's a copycat, like sensei!"

"If this bloodline was remotely as effective as the Sharingan, it would be famous," Sasuke observed neutrally. "My clan is famed for that very ability, after all." He turned his red eyes on Sakura. "He probably has Hinata and Kiba's skills, too. Assuming that there's some kind of time-limit on it, those would be the obvious sources of jutsu. The fighting style of the Hyūga clan relies on the Byakugan, and this Muneyoshi doesn't have that. Similarly, Kiba's style relies on his canine partner - and Muneyoshi doesn't have one of those either. It's probably why that mutt's missing, since this technique must not work on animals." His eyes widened. "_Shino_."

Sakura nodded eagerly. "The _bugs _- this Missing-Nin can't use Shino's techniques without them - and he probably knew it. That's why he took Shino out, then? His power was useless, there."

"No." Sasuke narrowed his eyes in contemplation, and his blood-red eyes sought out Naruto - as if he could see straight through the dust and dirt that clouded everything. "If that was all, then the same would be true for Hinata and Kiba - they also had techniques that he could not use himself. No, I think it's something else." He paused, a strange look passing across his face.

Without saying anything, he took off, straight towards the fight between Muneyoshi and Naruto, and Sakura could only barely snap herself into action to follow him. Clones and vicious wind-blades only barely missed them as they approached, and she cried out. "Sasuke?!"

"Hey, Dead Last!" Sasuke called out. "Naruto!"

The orange-clad _definitely-not-a-Genin _flung himself out of the huge pillar of smoke, tossing a dozen charged kunai behind him as he went, flipping onto his back as he smashed into the soil next to Sasuke. "...Ow," he muttered softly as he got up. "What's it now? I'm still kind of busy, if you haven't noticed!"

Sakura felt a smile flash across her face, and momentarily wondered why she wasn't more suspicious of Naruto right now - as she had been for a while - but before she could stop herself, she positioned herself between him and a shadow that slowly emerged from the smoke-filled crater. Muneyoshi. One of his arms looked terrible, and he was still bleeding, but a dozen clones still flanked him, staring blankly ahead. Sakura heard whispering behind her - she couldn't quite make it out - but she understood what she had to do. Sasuke needed a distraction to pass on whatever he had realized.

She raised her fists, raising an eyebrow challengingly even as she had the urge to run away, very quickly. She squashed the realization that this man could probably take her out in moments - and grit her teeth.

Muneyoshi sniffed. "Step aside, little girl. I'm not done with the brat." the tall man gestured at her dismissively, and two clones threw themselves forward, wielding kunai as they snarled. "Yes, boss!"

Sakura bristled at the dismissive tone, and her resolve solidified. This guy was not going to underestimate her. _Hell no!_ Not after she had just killed two murderous thugs without even flinching - she had gone this far already, what were a few clones more, with Sasuke and Naruto relying on her?

Before she could stop herself, before the more sensible part of her could put forth an argument to her pissed off side, Sakura took a deep breath and snapped herself into focus, and the irrelevant doubts vanished. She thought of the long days when Kakashi-sensei had nothing to do but show her Taijutsu attacks - since he seemed unable to critique her chakra control - or when he had left her with Maito Gai for a torturous but extremely effective training session. There was no stopping now.

She _moved. "Konoha Reppū!"_

Sakura flung her leg sideways with as much strength as she could muster, aiming squarely at the clones' shins, and her chakra poured into the attack with such ferocity that she could only barely keep herself from succumbing to the lethargic light-headedness that followed- she didn't have the kind of power that the boys flaunted, but it was enough to pull this off.

The first clone burst instantly, illusory leg severed neatly by the force - the second was not so lucky. It could only just remove its leg from the line of fire - by flinging itself into the air. Sakura's fist launched forward, almost by reflex. The second clone, for the brief moment that it remained, was headless. Then Sakura was surrounded by white smoke, and silence.

She rested like that, arm and leg outstretched, for only a short moment before she snapped back into form, betraying none of the exhaustion that the attack had caused, even as her muscles protested terribly, something that Gai had drilled into her in her first lesson. She seemed ready for another go. It was just intimidation - but it worked quite well.

"H-holy shit," Naruto exclaimed behind her, his whispered conversation with Sasuke cut short, and she smiled.

"Hn," Sasuke agreed, sounding reluctantly impressed, and she felt like she was flying.

Then - they were beside her, backing her up. Sasuke stood to her left, with another one of Naruto's seals tied to his forearm. It was the last one that he could pull off without hurting himself, since he was already overdoing it on ration pills, Sakura reasoned. Naruto stepped to her right, and he had a seal tied to his arm as well, a large and vicious-looking thing.

Sakura smiled, raising her fists before her, attempting to blend in with her teammates quiet fury, and she found it easier than she imagined. She was tired and sore, but she could hardly let her team down now.

_So this is what Naruto meant, huh? The new Sannin, with me as Tsunade?_ She smiled. _Hell yeah!_

Naruto smiled warmly for a moment, and Sakura knew that he could read her thoughts right off her face. "Well then-" he murmured. "I softened him up a little - let's finish this. Don't freak out - I'll probably be a little loopy after this." He raised his hands to a familiar cross sign. "_Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

Everything was orange.

* * *

Gaara stared into the distance with a supremely bored expression, and he had been sitting there in the same pose for hours on end, doing the same thing. The rooftops were warm from the afternoon sun, and if he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine being back in Suna - though he had never really been without _her _- _it -_ present.

Konoha was a strange place, for someone who was so used to the desert. The climate only reached the average temperature of Suna in mid-summer, and the air could get very chilly here. It was something that he had never really appreciated before, since wind touching his skin was a rather new experience in itself. He stared down at his arms, realizing that there was absolutely nothing between him and the outside world right now. And that he could bear that vulnerability better than he expected.

That thought sent a shiver down his back, and his hand gingerly touched the paper seal that covered his seal, keeping Shukaku from emerging. He had tried to remove the seal again, briefly, intent on returning some control to his life, but the intense pain that erupted as he tried it was so great that he placed it back immediately. If the ANBU had noticed his attempt, they did not show it; doubtlessly they had informed the Hokage, however. He was certain that the ANBU were equipped with spare seals in the event that things went too far, as well. Gaara knew it was what he would have done.

He raised his hand, and a thin spiral of sand crawled up his arm, quickly joined by another. The amount was pitiful, but his control was improving rapidly. Not for the first time since coming to Konoha, he wondered whether or not this particular trait was really something he'd received from Shukaku at all. His father had shown mastery over gold dust - perhaps he had inherited it from that man, and his own ability was simply a broader variation of the same theme. He wondered if it would be considered a bloodline ability.

It did not really matter, he reasoned. Either through his blood or his actions, his father had shaped the person he was. A lot of that person was unpleasant even to Gaara himself, now that the haze of perpetual noise and hate had receded. A surge of resentment shot through him, and he closed his eyes, blocking out the sensation with a concerted effort. He knew that he had a lot of things to blame his father for, but he could not afford to dwell on such painful things, not unless he wished to show his weakness in a place filled with potential enemies.

When he returned to Suna, he decided, he would seek the answer.

He turned his thoughts away from such things, considering his confinement - and the fact that his presence here had so far merely been uncomfortable, not painful. He was isolated from his home, among strangers, told to listen to the demands of the local rulers - but he as unharmed, and as free as he could expect to be in a place like this, being what he was. Naruto had been gone for days - more than a week. That boy was really his only link to this place, the only person that he knew a little, and only because he had spent far too much time with his chatty copies.

It was such a stunning contrast to his usual life. He was used to fear and hate in the eyes of people that looked at him, used to isolating himself in the desert with his - with Shukaku. He had stopped calling it his mother when his head cleared. Suddenly, without warning, he had been thrust into a far more normal life than he could have ever expected - he was vulnerable and alone in his head like his brother and sister had always been. He did not have a good idea of how to approach this new situation.

He had been like this before, once. He had been young, only a few years old, and the worst of things had not yet happened; he was too young to really understand everything, then. Shukaku had not yet infiltrated his every thoughts, not until after _that _event. He twitched, and his sand responded in agitation, flexing itself into winding pattern that vanished as soon as they appeared. He narrowed his eyes as he thought of those years - of the terrible things that had happened. His father had tried to have him killed.

Slowly, turgidly, the flash of anger faded, but the ache in his chest remained.

' _There's only one thing...that can help heal a wounded heart. But it's difficult medicine to get a hold of... because you can only receive it from another person.'_

He flinched, and his anger reignited. What was he doing, really? He growled as he stared down over this foreign village, this prison. He spent his time here doing nonsensical things like sleeping. He should be doing something_, anything._

Returning to Suna, perhaps, to his siblings. Confronting his father with what he had done. He had to destroy those that even _dared _to think that they could control _him._ He had to _fight_, to feel the rush of blood, and to prove his existence!

He clenched his fist, and with an animalistic growl he brought it down harshly - onto his seal. A flash of agony blazed through him, and heard a cry of protest in the distance - not his own. He clasped his hands around his forehead as he pressed his eyes closed. _Shut up. SHUT UP!_

And it did.

Gaara sighed in relief when his seal quieted, and he only felt a mild ache from the strike that had shocked him out of his momentary delirium. It seemed the creature was getting crafty, now that its easy access to his mind had been disrupted. Twice now he had found himself angry, hateful - at himself, at his father, at Yashamaru - and twice Shukaku had twisted itself into his thoughts, somehow circumventing the control of the paper seal that he was wearing.

"So, these are the bars of my prison," Gaara murmured. Naruto had told him that these seals were a temporary solution, and he was beginning to realize why. They worked - but only for a while, and the Tailed Beast was adapting. No paper seal could hope to match one that was inked into the skin itself, suffused with his own chakra, not forever.

Soon, he would start slipping back into what he used to be. For the sake of his newly found and shaky sanity, he hoped that Naruto would return swiftly.

Gaara realized at that moment that he was genuinely grateful. Though he still resented the treatment he had received, being dragged forcibly away from home, rendered unconscious, strapped to a chair until he thought things through, there was another side to things. Naruto had understood what Shukaku was doing to him, it seemed, and remedied it. He had _forced _Gaara to try out independence from the creature that he had called mother, knowing that it would give him a new perspective, and fully aware that Shukaku's influence would prohibit him from agreeing to any such experiment ahead of time.

Naruto had a very utilitarian streak, it seemed, not unlike Gaara himself. Shukaku had ravaged his thoughts, but it could not overwrite the core of his personality - and that was to do what was necessary to reach the goal, no exceptions. He suspected that in Naruto, the same resilience was present, but he had never been truly influenced by his demon - his seal was properly made. Naruto channelled all he had into his actions, fully convinced that they were right. Perhaps without realizing it, he was shaping events to suit his wishes. People could not help but adapt to such certainty, embodied.

Traits like that in a powerful individual - they could change the world.

Gaara opened his dark-ringed eyes as he heard the soft tap of two feet landing easily on the roof, only a few feet away. The sand dropped from his fingers, raining down around him as he turned slightly towards the new arrival.

"Good afternoon, Gaara-san," the white-haired man said as he stepped onto the roof, looking decidedly serious, his eyes meeting Gaara's own with a complete lack of emotion. "You sensed me coming?"

Gaara shrugged slightly. "I heard you. It is very silent here." He cocked his head to the side as he studied his guest, Jiraiya of the Sannin. This was the guise that Naruto had taken, the first time they met, and he was still not entirely sure why. The man exuded authority, true, but Naruto was quite capable of that himself, he was certain, even if he lacked the physical stature. "Is there something you require, Jiraiya-sama?"

"Yes." The tall man sat down on the roof to Gaara's side in a cross-legged posture, and following his gaze over the roofs and streets of Konoha. Gaara resisted the urge to get away from the possible threat, rather aware of the fact that he would likely be knocked over by a determined Genin at this point. Jiraiya seemed to notice his discomfort. "There is no need to worry. You're safe here. Hardly anyone knows who you are. If they do - we can assume that they are unaware of anything more than your home country."

Gaara stayed silent for a time, just staring, wondering why he suddenly had a companion. Finally, he grew impatient. "What is the purpose of this visit?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Straight to the point, then. I suppose you did grow up where such attitudes are more - prized." He gestured with two fingers, an ANBU hand signal, and then sighed. Gaara suspected his minders had left for the moment, though he was presently unable to even detect them in the day. At night, his night vision was good enough to spot their slight movements. Jiraiya stared for a moment longer, seemingly gathering his thoughts, then nodded. "Very well. I know that you lied to the Hokage."

Before surprise could solidify, Gaara squashed a trill of fear, knowing that the Hokage would not have sent someone to come speak to him if that were the full story. He would have been dragged off to Interrogation by his ANBU minders - deceit in foreign countries was frowned upon, and usually followed by violence. He could not imagine that Suna and Konoha would differ much in _that _fashion. Knowing that he had been caught, he nodded, acknowledging the point.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "Not even going to object, then?" He grimaced slightly, as if had bitten into a sour apple. "The circumstances of your arrival in Konoha were - different than you first claimed. I know much of what happened, now." His gaze did not waver - it was not a question. "I know that Naruto brought you here, all the way from Suna. He smuggled you across the walls, even. However he did it - the sensors did not pick up his passage, which makes things very suspicious, and I doubt I am the only one that put things together. I would have suspected treachery, if not for your voluntary confinement."

Gaara saw no need to lie further about something that the Sannin had clearly seen through with little difficulty. He shrugged slightly, looking into the distance. "It is unimportant. Naruto arranged for my stay." He considered detailing his fellow Jinchūriki's actions that led to his presence here, but was cut off before he could start.

"Unimportant? To you, perhaps." Jiraiya looked tired, but his eyes were sharp. "For Naruto, it could be vital. He's in trouble, serious trouble. I assume that you are his friend, as I can't imagine that the boy would go to such lengths for a stranger, so you must understand." Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. "Gaara-san - I must ask you to tell _nobody _the truth about your arrival, or anything else regarding Naruto. _Nobody._"

Gaara blinked - between the assumption that he was Naruto's _friend_ and the bizarre request, he found himself speechless. "Why?" The question escaped before he could think it over.

Jiraiya's frowned as he took in Gaara's posture. "If not for the creature that you house, I'm sure that someone would have already found a reason to send you to Torture and Interrogation. Nobody can afford to unleash a Jinchūriki, however - one of the few reasons that you have been spared. But - some might consider the risk acceptable."

"They are after information on Naruto, then." Gaara frowned, adding up the facts he knew, and he clenched his fists. "Someone intends to subdue him, correct? Use his actions to bring his loyalty into doubt, and use that to enslave him. They want access to the Nine-Tails."

Jiraiya's gaze betrayed momentary shock, then a calculating stare. "You are quite different from the tales I've heard. That was quite insightful."

"No denial, then. Interesting." Gaara narrowed his eyes. "I assume that matters are dire, considering your presence. I presume the case against Naruto is strong." He turned away. "The Hokage already doubts Naruto - that is why you have come, rather than he." He nodded. "Does that mean that you are still on Naruto's side?"

"It's - complicated." Jiraiya grimaced. "He _is _my student, of sorts. I like to believe I have some idea of his personality, and I have - other sources of information. Regardless, he should be allowed a fair trial for what he may have done, not a glorified imprisonment that is prepared while he is conveniently gone on a mission." He shook his head tiredly. "I'm sure that they'll strike the moment that Naruto walks back through the gates."

Gaara nodded slowly. "Very well. I will not speak of this. You may force the matter, if you wish - I am sure you are able." Gaara frowned darkly, reflecting on his decision. It was self-interest in part, knowing that Naruto was the person who could repair his seal, who could maintain his sanity - but at the same time he felt like he owed the boy something, for putting him on this path. What had Jiraiya said they were? Friends?

A small smile appeared on the Sannin's face. "Loyalty - I like that."

Gaara chose not to dignify that with a response.

Jiraiya reached into his pocket and retrieved a yellowed scroll, tightly bound with a reddish paper that was inscribed with a large seal. "If I am to stop this farce, then I require your assistance. I wrote this earlier. I can't send it through official channels, and right now, and some of my alternative options would be unwise. Any method I could use would take a long time to make it through inspection, especially with a high-level locking seal inscribed on it. However, there was something that Naruto said..."

"You are requesting me to use my sand to deliver it." Gaara looked up, narrowing his eyes. "What is it?"

Jiraiya chose not to dignify that with a response.

"It would take a great deal of chakra," Gaara noted after a moment, deciding that he was not going to receive an answer. He knew he was capable of controlling the sand over vast distances, or replicate the letter elsewhere from sand alone. But - he would need to remove the seal, to free his chakra. And let _it_ back into his head.

The Sannin grimaced. "My options are limited at this time. There are a great number of people that I can't trust at this time, not with something like this, because there are too many eyes and ears that might intercept them." His gaze darkened. "It is a bad day when I have to rely on foreign shinobi to carry a message from Konoha."

"And I am to believe that you trust _me_?" Gaara stared blankly.

Jiraiya smirked. "I _don't_ trust you, that's true. If I didn't know I could kill you in a moment if necessary, I would not even approach this close. I know your reputation." Jiraiya tapped the scroll. "Regardless of my reasons, will you do this?"

Gaara nodded shortly. "Where should it go?" Honestly, he knew the answer before it came, but it still sent a chill down his back when Jiraiya said it.

"Your father."

* * *

"What did you do _that _for?" Naruto asked with an annoyed glare as he looked back uneasily to the wall of Amegakure, where the smoke of half a dozen popped clones faded away into the rain. A chill ran down his spine and his body responded almost physically to the fact that he had turned his back on an enemy that was so ludicrously powerful that he had once taken down a Hidden Village in his lonesome.

Kurenai still lay on the ground, unconscious - and if nothing else, he needed to retrieve _her. _Otherwise this whole gambit was pointless. He was the last of the clones, so he had to watch his words. He immediately winced, realizing he had just scolded Nagato only moments before, and tried to smile apologetically.

He supposed he was just really foolish to stay petulant when faced with someone who could squash you to jelly with a thought. Or maybe it was the fact that as a clone, only the boss would really have to deal with the consequences. He imagined that that particular thought would probably be much more disturbing to the boss than it was to him.

"They were unnecessary," the Deva Path answered his question, and he started. "Follow."

Staring for a moment longer, disbelieving, he finally forced his legs - far too short, damn it - to catch up to the retreating Path. The others just looked down on him as he passed. The large machine-like Path in particular kept grinning inanely as he walked by; Kurenai was still sprawled on the ground, and quickly disappeared from sight as they turned a corner.

This made things more complicated, the clone considered as he followed he wide streets in the Deva Path's wake. There was only one place in Ame that they could be going, and he had no idea _why_ Nagato would even dare to lead someone to him, when he had his Paths available.

The village was ugly, Naruto thought as he tried to distract himself from the mess he was in. His gaze roved over tall spires and stormy clouds. Probably it was partially the fact that he was used to good old Konoha architecture, homely houses and sunny skies, but it all seemed so - dead. Here, rain seemed to come down at all times, and the tall towers pierced the sky, centred around a lake that was kept full by the downpour, even as a river coursed outwards towards the sea. It was a drab, colourless place.

"You really should consider getting the Boss for this," the clone noted nervously. "Face to face, you know."

"That will not be necessary. The _Kage Bunshin_ technique will suffice." The Deva Path did not turn around as he spoke, staring up at the tallest tower ahead. "It is a near-perfect replication, after all."

"Yes..." Naruto said slowly. "But, you're going for a personal meeting, aren't you?" He glanced up as the Deva Path met his eyes for a moment. "Clearly you care enough about that to bring me to your real body, after all - so why not mine, too?"

The Path did not speak again, leading the clone to the tower with his eerie eyes turned away. Naruto shivered at the thought of Nagato as he had first met the man - when he had so mercilessly attacked Konoha in search of him. Now, he was walking directly into the man's lair, even if he was just another clone.

For a moment, the insanity of this moment occurred to him, and he twitched in agitation. First the Kazekage - and now freaking _Pain, _one of the strongest shinobi that he had ever faced. The only reason that he had won the first time around, he was certain, was the man's lack of understanding of Sage Mode - he had abused its qualities to take out the Paths, and it was only due to the resurrection jutsu that the fight did not have a massive death toll.

A convincing demonstration of sheer power had come in the form of the _Edo Tensei_ reincarnation that Kabuto had inflicted on Nagato, as he had done on so many others. The only reason that he had not died right there was the intervention of Uchiha Itachi. It had taken himself, Itachi _and _Killer-B to even take out his techniques - and he didn't even know those people yet, this time around.

Nagato could be a terrible enemy - but in events to come, he could also be a magnificent ally. He just needed to figure out a way to get through to him, to turn him from Akatsuki and his destructive intentions before things went terribly wrong.

The same could be said for Itachi, Naruto considered. _That_ was a problem for some other day.

When the Path finally stopped, it was near the entrance of a darkened doorway, though flickering lights were visible from deeper within. Naruto's clone carefully stepped inside, blinking to adjust to the light. Trying to ignore his nerves, he moved further in.

The room was very high, and some type of tubing ran across the walls; high up there was a light source, perhaps an opening to the outside, but it was difficult to tell. Small torches blazed along the walls, spreading a strange bluish luminescence, as if they were burning with something other than regular fire. Their light only reached a short distance, though. Naruto wondered if it was Konan's work.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

The voice was low, grave, much like Naruto remembered. He turned towards the noise, and could just barely make out the contours of Nagato's chair - the huge device that enclosed his legs and arms, connecting him to his Paths through the chakra relays embedded in their skin - and his back.

Naruto nodded. "Nagato."

Nagato stayed silent, and only his contour was visible in the darkness in the centre of the room. The purple Rinnegan seemed to shine in the darkness, unmistakably focused on Naruto. He did not speak for some time, until at last there was a slight chuckle. A dry laugh, even.

The clone blinked. "What's so funny?"

Nagato's laugh halted abruptly. "It seems I was correct. I will agree to a meeting, Uzumaki Naruto. Your true self and I will converse, and you will give me the information I require - and we shall see what I will grant you in return. Until such a time, I shall not attack Konoha." Nagato's eyes shifted slightly. "The woman will be left at the border, in reach of your _Kage Bunshin_. Do not trespass again, or face death. I will choose when to make contact."

The clone swallowed thickly. "I don't understand-"

A shadow appeared over the clone. The Deva Path suddenly stood behind him, his face impassive, and slammed his arm down before Naruto could say another word. The clone vanished in a rush of chakra, taking his last thought with him.

_'Why was I even brought here...?'_

* * *

_Dead. _They were all dead.

Oh _hell_, not again.

Kakashi stared down in horror, forcing himself to ignore the part of him that wanted to react viscerally, but years of experience reduced his response to a tremor of shock that shot down his spine, and a mournful sigh. There was blood - and three bodies. The Genin looked like they had been flayed alive. Flayed alive, under his watch.

Almost reflexively, Kakashi thought of that insane moment when he had decided to put a _Genin_ at the head of a mission like this, a wildly mislabelled mess that had been kept from collapsing under its own weight due to team cohesion and a leader who appeared to know what he was doing. Yet - this was too much, this was where the mission turned from bad to cursed.

Hyūga Hinata stared at the sky without sight; her blank eyes were unchanged, but death was in the air, and the complete lack of movement told Kakashi enough. Kiba lay besides her, perfectly still, with a wound torn across his side that had already stopped bleeding. A freshly healed Shino lay behind them, blood pooling from under his chest, probably the last to fall. Three high-profile Clan Genin, dead on a single mission.

Kakashi let out the loudest, foulest curse he could think of as he grasped a kunai, flashes of the past catching up to him, before he ruthlessly suppressed his anger. His rational mind caught up with him moments later, breaking through the layer of self-incrimination and hate. Something was off. Something was very much off.

His eye widened in realization. _Genjutsu!_

He ripped his hitai-ate up violently, unveiling his Sharingan. The bodies melted to nothingness, the carnage turned into stones and mud, completely unremarkable. One of Naruto's clones stood before him with his kunai ready to strike; behind him, looking at him with a mixture of shock and disgust, were the three Genin of Team 8. Shino was supported by Kiba, while Hinata stood with her arms raised, ready to strike. It took him a moment to realize that the entire team had just heard him. _That's going to earn me a reprimand..._

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said carefully, a thin smile briefly flashing across his face. "I suppose it's fitting that you would be the one to fall for that illusion."

_Impossible. _Kakashi shook his head as he relaxed slightly. "Who placed it? It was - very convincing."

"Actually..." Naruto nodded towards Hinata, who blushed momentarily.

Kakashi stared at her. "Really? Genjutsu of that calibre? I guess Kurenai has been teaching you more than I anticipated. Now I'm feeling inadequate..."

Naruto scoffed. "She's a Hyūga, sensei. Her chakra control is nearly perfect, since she needs it for the Gentle Fist - did you honestly expect she'd be bad at Genjutsu?" Hinata blushed terribly behind Naruto, who seemed oblivious. "This particular one - well, it's easier than it looks, really. Plays on expectations. Hinata knows enough about anatomy to pull it off."

"I - I'm glad it worked," Hinata said carefully, with a wavering smile. "A few of the fake clones came here, but they just turned around when they saw this..."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the clone, then nodded. "They must have gone to inform their creator - he won't be fooled for long, but it's good thinking." He nodded to Naruto's clone. "For a moment there, I was afraid you'd -"

"What, forgotten?" Naruto gestured to Kiba and Shino. "Do you really think I'd forget to protect the people we just saved? I've had a small legion here since the start. When some clones came to 'help out', I took them out before they got close." He frowned. "The Boss is holding his own?"

"He is." A clone dropped from the tree that Kakashi had just left, landing easily. "Actually - I think he went a little overboard, even. Might not have too much chakra left after this."

"That's... impressive," the first clone murmured. "Password?"

"I was helping an old lady across the street." The clone said dutifully, before glancing at Kakashi. "I hope you don't mind that we're using your excuses, sensei? We needed something we'd remember, and that this Missing-Nin couldn't really guess too easily. He's not from Konoha, after all."

"Any sign of Akamaru?" Kiba asked. "I haven't heard or smelt a thing since we got separated..."

"Not yet," the second clone said, sighing. "If he's out here, somewhere, then I'll find him. Whether he's fine or - not." He looked away. "I don't really know what happened to him after you were attacked, so..."

"Akamaru carries one of my insects," Shino said in a breathless, soft voice. He coughed slightly, wobbling on his feet. "I am currently - indisposed, but others of my clan will be able to locate your friend, I am certain."

Kiba nodded, smiling slightly. "Thanks, Shino."

"You're looking - better." Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You're walking and talking already? I figured it would take a few days..."

Shino gave the slightest shrug, cradling his arm. "My chakra system has been - affected, but I seem to be otherwise intact." He frowned. "Naruto's healing was most effective, but the side-effects are understandably severe. It will take some time to recover fully."

"Did you say - Naruto?" Kiba frowned. "He's a medic-nin now?"

"Not - exactly." Shino ducked behind the high collar of his jacket. "He was, however, instrumental in saving my life. I owe him a debt of gratitude that I doubt I can repay. I was, in truth, dead."

Hinata gasped. "D-Dead? I thought-"

"The details of what happened can wait," Kakashi cut in. "Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are presently taking on the Missing-Nin that managed to take you down in a surprise attack, and attempting to retrieve Kurenai. This is the more immediate problem."

"Right." The first of Naruto's clones said. "That's where all the fake clones are coming from."

"Can we - help?" Kiba winced. "Without Akamaru..."

"They seem to be handling things," Kakashi said, shrugging. "This turned into a retrieval mission the moment that we discovered what happened to your team - and technically, Naruto is the team leader. He seems to have covered all his bases, so as long as he doesn't command a retreat, we'll continue."

"He's the _leader?_" Kiba scowled. "Why can't I be the leader?" he murmured.

"Um... It's kind of nice that you're helping us, but shouldn't you be with Naruto?" Hinata glanced away from Kakashi. "You're s-strong - you should be there, right?"

"Don't worry," Kakashi replied, smiling encouragingly. "I am."

* * *

Naruto's fist glanced past Muneyoshi's face, missing by mere inches. Near-misses did not count, however, and with a growl he flung his legs forward - still too short - and used the momentary opening to land a powerful blow on the Missing-Nin's midriff.

"Gotcha!"

The moment the clone hit the man, of course, his mind vanished into nothingness - and then the whole clone vanished when a second one came from behind him, stabbing straight through his chest on his way to Muneyoshi's exposed side. When that clone's attack went off target as well, a grasping hand found his wrist, and before he could do more than panic at his impending conversion, he found himself destroyed in the same manner by yet another of his brethren.

Clone warfare could be _very _effective, if you had enough chakra to mass-produce the things. It was nearly impossible to counter. That said - the real Naruto was down on the ground, practically catatonic from the sudden rush of chakra through an already overexerted system, and the constant barrage of bizarre impulses sent back to him was certainly not helping matters.

"That took a lot out of even me," Naruto muttered, groaning. "Stupid Genin body, stupid Genin chakra system..."

"It's actually working," Sasuke commented wryly, glancing down to his prone teammate. His Sharingan had died away for the moment. "You're completely crazy, Dead Last."

"Yeah, yeah. Stow it." Naruto twitched as he slowly pulled himself up. "What you said about Shino - it makes sense. The issue wasn't that the bugs would be a danger, but that they were with so very _many._ The limitation on Muneyoshi's techniques is not range alone - but control, too." He grinned. "Don't you think he's starting to look - strung out? If he _could _control his ability to take over chakra, he would have stopped by now."

Muneyoshi whirled around, taking half a dozen of Naruto's clones with him - but each of them was skewered by fellow clones before they could defend their new master, and more clones filled in the opened gaps. When Muneyoshi tried to jump away, the clones forced him back, and when he tried to tunnel, dozens more erupted from there as well. Each and every one that touched Muneyoshi became victim to his Kekkei Genkai, and after that a kunai from one of the other clones. The Missing-Nin got no chance to form a defensive formation, to break free.

"It's almost time to finish him," Naruto said, glancing at Sakura for a moment. "My clones will soon run out of steam, and I'm not feeling up to making a lot more of them. I get chakra back quickly, but this is pushing it. We need a decisive victory, here - and I think the fact that he's stopped bragging is a sign that this is the best chance we'll get."

"He looks pretty healthy, really," Sasuke murmured. "And you're starting to look like you might keel over, actually. Are you sure...?"

Naruto nodded. "He might not look too hurt, but I've been exhausting his chakra, and he definitely got a wallop earlier. If we attack now, he won't be able to take care of all of us at once. But it has to be _all of us_."

He gestured quickly, repeating several hand-seals in quick succession, but no jutsu came. He smiled as he patted the seal on his arm. "Sakura - with that punch of yours, if you can pull it off once again, you should be able to shock his system. Basically, hit him in the head. Make sure that you keep your skin well away from him; there's no telling what his touch might do. Sasuke - fire it up as soon as she's out of the way, so that he's forced to get his singed ass out of the area. The remaining clones will fence him in." He cracked his knuckles. "Then comes the cool part. I will take care of that."

"Naruto-" Sakura said. "What about Kakashi-sensei?"

"He's nearby," Naruto said lightly. "If we need him - he'll be here. But this is our fight, and I intend to have us finish it." He smirked. "Right, bastard?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I'm team leader - today I get to make this call. Next time, you get to boss me around." He paused, a flash of memories returning to him from distant clones, and he staggered. He blinked. He blinked again. "...What the hell?"

Memories of Amegakure poured into his head. He remembered himself telling the Paths of Pain about Tobi, and about the Rinnegan, and the terrible future that Akatsuki was meant to create, despite Nagato's intentions. He remembered himself deciding to use a gambit that he had hoped not to need - twisting Akatsuki against its own members. Then, there was a flash of Nagato himself - wreathed in darkness, but with his eyes sharp as ever, seemingly coming to a decision based on seeing him. As if the Rinnegan stared right through him, and revealed his every secret.

_Nagato is going to come find me in Konoha - and then the temporary peace is over. This can go so very, terribly wrong._

"Naruto...?" Sakura waved her hand in front of his eyes. "I think you should rethink this - you're spacing out."

The supposed Genin looked up, blinking. "Sorry. Clone memories. Kurenai-sensei - she's safe. Unconscious, but safe. Some of my clones just grabbed her from a hideout near the border." He cocked his head to the side. "The same is true for Team 8, by the way. They're fine, it seems." He nodded, ignoring his worries and fears for a moment as he gathered his remaining chakra - he felt the edges of Kurama's tainted red chakra at the edges, a sure sign to end things quickly.

"No more waiting around Let's go." He gestured up with his arms, flashing chakra through them for a split second - and the mass of Shadow Clones quite suddenly backed off, retreating en masse.

Sakura's attack was first, and in the split second that it took Muneyoshi to grasp that the clones had quite suddenly and simultaneously retreated, her fist was already on its way. It was not as powerful as her previous assault, since her muscles protested violently against the abuse, but the mercilessly powerful punch still forced him to swerve aside - only to neatly position himself in front of her other one.

Naruto could hear Muneyoshi's jaw breaking - a horrible, sharp sound that seemed to echo around the destroyed clearing. He even let out a brief cry of pain - the first definite damage that they'd done to the man. Blood flew, teeth clattered to the ground. Sakura flung her leg in between her and the enemy before he had time to grasp what had happened, pushing off as hard as she could.

The fireball that followed was nearly instantaneous, scorching past Sakura while she was still in mid-air and licking past her boots. It caught Muneyoshi in its boiling inferno the moment that his hand had reached his face, to cradle his new wound. The detonation of the flaming mass of destruction was violent enough that Muneyoshi was forced to sacrifice tactics in order to avoid it - and thus ran directly into the remaining clones, wielding _Rasengan _by the dozens.

"Attack!" the clones shouted, all at once - and they descended on Muneyoshi like locusts, en masse.

"Naruto! Genjutsu!" Sasuke shouted, but as he attempted to blast out another fireball, nothing more than a few loose flames erupted, and he coughed.

Without a fuss, Muneyoshi flickered out of existence - only to appear mere feet from Naruto, a wicked smile appearing on his mutilated face. Sakura flung herself aside to avoid his attack, knowing that she could not counter it - and Sasuke was only able to throw himself backwards, knowing that he was nearly out of chakra.

Naruto was caught by the neck, dragged along by the Missing-Nin's surprising speed.

Two shouts of panic erupted simultaneously. "Naruto!"

"Too late," Muneyoshi muttered, nearly unintelligible. Naruto hung limply from his outstretched arm, and the Missing-Nin's grasp tightened as chakra visibly coursed over his skin, emanating from his contact point with Naruto's neck. "So much..." he murmured - and then a tinge of red chakra, Kurama's power, flared up through his body. His jaw clicked together as if it had never been broken, and Muneyoshi grinned. "Well, Uzumaki, the game is over."

"Let him go!" Sasuke snapped, looking on warily as the Missing-Nin tightened his grip, choking Naruto.

Muneyoshi smirked as he turned to the other two members of Team 7. "Or _what? _Didn't this one already claim that he was going to kill me?"

"Maybe you won't die - by my hand." Naruto coughed softly as he sucked in a breath. "Someone will do it, though. Because of what you did - are still doing." He grinned haggardly. "You should know, about a man called _Ryosuke._ He was a good man. A man whose death you were responsible for. I won't let you get away with that."

"Spare your breath. Your chakra is mine, now, Jinchūriki. You're harmless."

"Maybe my chakra is yours." Naruto said softly. "But the fight? The fight is mine." He laughed then, an eerie and almost sad chuckle. His bright yellow eyes opened, meeting Muneyoshi's. "You didn't really think I was stupid enough to get caught by accident, right?" He smirked as his mouth elongated, becoming impossibly wide. His hands grasped Muneyoshi's arm tightly - they were large webbed hands. His broad, dark pupils took in his enemy's baffled stare. "Good luck with this chakra..."

"What-" Muneyoshi winced, and crumpled to his knees as he cried out involuntarily. Like an infection starting at the tips of his fingers, natural energy flowed through the connection between the Missing-Nin and his victim. Naruto's face slowly turned back to human, and his hands shrunk to their normal size. The last to go were his toad-like eyes. At the same time, Muneyoshi's hand began to swell up, and then turned dark and stiff - Naruto let go, as he knew the damage was done. With a single forceful movement he ripped himself free from the struggling, twitching Muneyoshi. Fingers came loose as he retreated, shattering into small pieces - chunks of rock.

"So you were beaten twice through the same technique," Naruto muttered, thinking of Jiraiya, and the fact that he had ended this threat the last time around. Muneyoshi leaned against the ground, breathing heavily - his limb very slowly turned darker, his entire arm turning to so much stone. Naruto glanced up, and nodded. He stared down at his arm for a moment, considering the seal there. He had not needed to use it - and he was honestly relieved. "This guy got one thing right. It's over, now."

"Naruto - " Sasuke said worriedly from his side as Sakura hurried over. "What did you _do_?"

"It's just a little something that a sensei of mine taught me," Naruto said, shaking his head tiredly. "What now...?" He sighed. "It would be easy to let him die, here, you know. Very easy."

Naruto had a feeling like vertigo as he stared down at the Missing-Nin that was slowly being consumed by the natural energy. In another life, he would have not thought twice about finishing an enemy and burning his body - but this was different. He could not switch between being who he was and who he wanted to be. That's not how it worked.

"He's killed and hurt Konoha shinobi, so he'll probably end up executed anyway," Naruto observed haltingly, grimacing. Finally, he relaxed his posture. "I won't kill him. He's Akatsuki, of a sort - and he's partly responsible for something that I want cleared up. He knows things. We'll take him with us as a prisoner."

He flashed a single hand-seal. It was enough.

In a flash of lighting and noise, a fifth person appeared among the group - the only one who didn't flinch back was Naruto, who sent an exhausted smile at the silver-haired Jōnin who stared at him with his mismatched eyes. Muneyoshi cried out as Kakashi brought his hand down on his shoulder, and lightning burst alight on his fingers. _Chidori._

"I guess you'll find out what you did to Shino," Naruto said dryly, and Muneyoshi only had a moment to blink in confusion before there was blood and bone and the smell of scorched flesh. The Missing-Nin's entire arm dropped off, shattering to pieces. He stared at his sudden stump for a little while, seemingly incapable of figuring out what he was looking at, before he slumped to the floor. The remainder of the severed limb slowly turned to stone as well, and then the natural energy dissipated harmlessly.

"Mission complete," Naruto whispered tiredly, sitting down. He looked away, realizing how many new unanswered questions he had, and how many unknowns were peeking over the horizon. He forcefully shoved it aside, allowing himself some relief over the fact that this, at least, had not ended in a total disaster. "Kurenai - she's safe," he said to his team, glancing at Kakashi in particular. "The entire Team 8, actually. Well, still need to find Akamaru. The clones that are left over can help you with that, I guess - and they can serve as guards." He sighed, smiling slightly. "I suppose you're team leader again, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi nodded. "Well - at least it's better than my first command." He let out a quick, humorless laugh, before he glanced over to Sasuke and Sakura. Both had sunk to the ground where they stood. "I'm - impressed. All of you were fantastic, actually. If I didn't know better, I'd think you were Chūnin." He raised an eyebrow as he looked at Naruto again. "Or a little more, in your case."

Naruto just snorted. "These C-ranks are cursed, I swear."

"That may be." Kakashi smiled slightly, barely visible due to his mask, then sighed. "I'm sorry about this, Naruto, but I can't afford to break the rules any further. For what it's worth, I'll make sure that the headache isn't too bad."

"Wha-"

Naruto felt a sharp jolt in the back of his neck - then the world faded to black.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I am helping out with editing again (One of Nauro's stories) and this time it's a Naruto story to boot!

"**Steal My Thunder God" by Nauro** is a time travel story that takes Naruto back to the Kyubi attack, where he ends up wounded and captured by local shinobi who question his identity, after he is mistaken for the Fourth. It's a great jaunt and quite promising.

Go to Nauro's profile now! Read 'Steal My Thunder God'! (If you don't, a dyslexic pomeranian will hunt you down.)

This has been a public service announcement. Thank you. Expect more updates in the future, but it is quite possible that I will update another story first, such as WaS.


	21. Reversal

**Chapter 21 - Reversal**

Naruto sank to the ground without a sound, his eyes rolling upwards.

"What the hell, Kakashi-sensei?!" Sakura squawked instantly, rushing to the blond's side in an instant, measuring his pulse. She bit her lip for a moment as she felt his jugular, then let out a relieved breath. "I think he's stable, though his heartbeat's kind of sluggish. What was _that_ for?" She glared up at Kakashi. "He was _fine._"

Sasuke's eyes lingered on Naruto's unconscious form, then sought out Kakashi as well. For a brief moment he had the irrational urge to yell at his sensei, and he paused at that foreign thought, trying to trace it back to its origins. Kakashi's expression was blank, though there was a certain tiredness in his eyes which made Sasuke hesitate on saying something. He recognized that expression - his father had always seemed most terrifying when he looked like that, a combination of disappointed and impatient.

"I'd like to know as well," Sasuke said at last, calmly, his face betraying none of his displeasure though his dark eyes were narrowed. "Well, Sensei?"

Kakashi seemed unperturbed, staring down at the Genin he had just rendered unconscious. "Sasuke, Sakura - we have to get ready to move. If we linger, we may run into other unpleasantness besides this Missing-Nin, and I can't protect two whole teams of Genin at once, not against any significant force." He gestured westwards with a quick nod. "We're meeting up with Team 8 and my clone, and we should meet our ANBU backup within a day or two. All the other clones running around should have dispelled - but just in case they didn't, make sure you identify anyone you come across, at least in these woods. Be careful."

As Kakashi leaned down to Muneyoshi's side, taking in his pale face that betrayed not even a sliver of consciousness, Sasuke spoke up again - much to his own astonishment. "Don't avoid the question!" he barked, crossing his arms; his posture more than made his impatience more than clear. "Explanation. _Now._"

"I did not expect this behaviour from you," Kakashi said slowly as he hid his Sharingan eye from view. His posture shifted and Sasuke hesitated in response, quite suddenly aware of how drained he was, and how powerful his sensei could be - if the man intended to knock him out as well, he would succeed. He refused to stumble, though. Kakashi shook his head, and the moment of danger abated. "Please don't order around your superiors, Sasuke. It's unprofessional."

Sasuke could not have stopped his snort even if he wanted to. "Superior?" He spat on the ground. "You didn't twitch a finger until the very end, and then you knocked him unconscious - why are you someone I should obey? I'd sooner listen to the Dead Last."

His sensei winced, and Sasuke felt a thrill of immense satisfaction at eliciting a visible reaction - a vindictive streak in him demanded that he continue. He considered his anger for a moment, trying to trace his thoughts back again - somewhere along the line, speaking up for Naruto had become something he did automatically. It made no sense. Despite the many secrets that the Dead Last kept, and the plainly ludicrous level of underachievement that he had displayed in the academy, Sasuke found himself quite unwilling to dismiss the idiot.

_Why?_

Intellectually, Sasuke was aware that trusting Naruto was a stupid choice - he was flaky, annoying, and clearly involved in more than a few questionable activities, and he was host to a monstrous demon to boot. Yet, beside all that, there was something else, underneath that facade. Looking underneath the underneath was what shinobi were meant to do - and Naruto's cheerful demeanour hid far more than most people had even guessed, that was clear.

Something clicked, as he considered that false image, which had cracked in recent times. The facts he knew about Naruto painted him as a skilled and merciless liar, far more powerful than anyone else his age, save for similar geniuses. He was someone for whom killing was old hat at the age of eleven, who could brood with the best of them when he thought nobody was looking - and who was probably the loneliest member of this screwed-up team.

Naruto was a lot like Itachi.

Why the _hell_ was he sticking up for someone who reminded him of Itachi?

"Sasuke?"

"I meant what I said," Sasuke said as he glanced aside. Sakura was another odd one, but far easier to understand. More talented than he had expected - she had taken out two people, compared to his one, and had been rather terrifying while doing it - but just a really promising kunoichi, rather than a prodigy. Still, he could see a little of what Naruto probably did, even if her constant fawning was completely annoying.

As he expected, Sakura nodded, looking fiercely at Kakashi. She would side with him, Sasuke knew - if not for Naruto's sake yet, perhaps, at least because of him. He could use the backup. He met Kakashi's gaze again, unafraid. "We all know that Naruto is _different._ Sakura and I have discussed the matter before." He briefly glanced to the pink-haired girl again. "We figure that he is, or used to be, in ANBU - it's happened before at his age, if not sooner."

_Itachi._

_"_With the revelation of the Nine-Tails within him, I can understand why he was elected for such training as well. His enormous chakra reserves are probably due to the Kyūbi's presence, and of course someone like him would be interested in seals. Who would want a living weapon to remain a normal academy student?" He cocked his head to the side, studying his sensei's expression. "Isn't that right?"

"R-right!" Sakura exclaimed, avoiding Kakashi's sceptical glance. "I agree with Sasuke!"

"Of course you do," Sasuke murmured, sighing. He looked down to the unconscious forms of both Muneyoshi and Naruto, then took in the sheer devastation around him. There was not a single tree left intact in an astoundingly large region, with smoke and ash rising into the sky at that very moment. The forest had gained a new clearing today. This kind of power, without a whiff of the horrible chakra that had permeated the air when he healed Shino, this was only a part of his strength. _Incredible. _

Sasuke shrugged. "The fox is new - but I had gathered the rest of these facts before we even left. Naruto is open with us, he will answer direct questions directly for the most part. I assume he was placed on my team to keep an eye on me - but none of that changes my impression that _Naruto_ of all people cares for this team. More than any of us do, I think. He's strange like that."

"Regardless, this is for his own good," Kakashi said shortly. "There are certain lines that nobody can cross, and -"

"I won't accept any excuses, Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke snapped, and he raised an eyebrow. "Technically, Naruto is _still_ the team leader for this mission until we're back in Konoha to turn in our reports to the Hokage." He smirked. "Since you handed off your role, you don't have the authority to dismiss the team like this. The Team Leader outranks everyone during a mission, regardless of whether they are Genin or Jōnin. Since the Dead-Last is out of commission, and I have not seen him formally return command or appoint a successor, majority vote will have to do." He raised an eyebrow. "Want to bet which one of us would win that?"

Kakashi let out a long-suffering sigh. "I see that all my Genin are conspiring against me. I knew I should not have passed a group this year..." He shook his head. "Even if I knew everything that was going on with Naruto, I couldn't tell you - some things are secrets of the village." He reached down to Muneyoshi's side. "I will prepare these two for travel. Since you are so adamant about your teammate, go ahead and take him along. I will take the Missing-Nin."

The urge to lash out at Kakashi was back, and Sasuke took a deep breath to calm himself - if he had the chakra to power it, he knew his Sharingan would have been transfixed on his sensei. Slowly his eyes moved down to Naruto, who looked far too peaceful for someone as active as he was. For someone as dangerous as he was.

Again, he questioned his spirited defence. He clenched his fists as he stared darkly at Kakashi from under his bangs. Whatever the truth was - ANBU, demon-host, whatever else - Naruto was not his brother, not in the most important ways. Itachi had murdered mercilessly, killing his heart to measure his potential. He had manipulated people, including Sasuke himself, to suit his own ends - and most likely, he had not yet seen just how far that went. He was a genius, far beyond any of his age, more skilled than should be possible. Itachi was the shade that hovered over his shoulder, the image that he both loathed and feared.

Naruto had killed - the boy had admitted as much, practically ordering him to get it over with now by taking out someone he did not know personally, rather than start off with Itachi. Certainly the creature in Naruto's gut had murdered plenty. He had also manipulated and used people; that was unmistakable, since not even Kakashi could get a bead on him, and it seemed like he was keeping everyone guessing, up to the Hokage himself. He was a genius - he had to be, in some respect, to maintain his precarious hold on those around him, or to gain the strength he had. Either that, or a work ethic that would make anyone collapse just thinking about it - a kind of genius in itself.

So what _was_ the difference, in truth? With all those similarities to the spectre of his brother, to that murderer who had destroyed his clan, why did he feel the need to stick up for someone who exemplified traits that he loathed? Why had he taken the orders to spy on him straight to Kakashi, rather than even consider the offer he had been given? Though the reward was precisely what he wanted - Sharingan secrets, the key to defeating Itachi - he had instead taken his ticket directly to the authorities. He had dismissed that offer out of hand when he realized what the price was for such a boon. A price that he would have easily paid mere months ago. _Why?_

Why for the Dead Last, the perpetual annoyance?

Why for _Naruto? _

A memory surfaced unbidden. He remembered lying in a hospital bed, shortly after he was attacked, when Naruto had entered. The supposed Genin had entered across the roof, standing upside-down, confidently taking in his teammate's pitiful state without comment. Sasuke had expected the boy to make fun of him, maybe to tell him that he was weak, like Itachi would have. He had been prepared for it - it was natural.

_"Alone, I think you could become the next Kakashi. You could beat your enemies with the Sharingan and powerful jutsu that you copied. A worthwhile goal." _

He'd been dead serious.

_But together – you, me, Sakura – I think we could go beyond that. Be something better. I've already said Sakura could be the next Tsunade, and if I'm not too arrogant here, I'm getting lessons from Jiraiya soon in sealing, I'd like to be the next Toad Sage."_

Ridiculously ambitious.

_There are three, however, in any team. Think about that, would you? I'd even help you with that ambition of yours."_

Fully aware of what made Sasuke tick.

Naruto's conviction was undeniable - when he spoke of what would be, he spoke with an authority that should seem overblown, arrogant. Naruto had told him with that voice that he could reach the heights of Kakashi on his own, and seemed entirely convinced that it was a plausible scenario. Then he had done the same with the team, declaring them to be the next Sannin, if they worked at it. From most people, he would have taken it as a stupid joke, a delusion.

That was the difference, Sasuke realized. Itachi had told him to gain the same eyes as him, and then find him, to take his revenge - to be alone. Naruto seemed like he was actively striving to get away from such loneliness, to gather a team. It was not a surprise, given how his youth had to have been coloured by what he carried. The two of them, Itachi and Naruto, were two sides of the same coin.

"_We'll storm the ranks so quickly that nobody will even believe it!"_

"Yes, we will," Sasuke murmured, looking back to Kakashi, who seemed concerned at his long silence. "So - you refuse to explain your actions? You wouldn't mind if I woke him up, then." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I was taught the appropriate procedure. This was an _Uchiha _technique you copied, after all."

"Sasuke-"

"Why are you so hesitant about telling us why you _incapacitated the team leader right in front of us?_" Sasuke demanded. "I've asked you more than once, now - I refuse to be coddled like a child," he snapped. "We've all killed - we're old enough to kill, old enough to die, but too young to know _why_? Screw that. I'm waking him up."

The air turned to stone in that instant, and Sasuke froze, eyes wide. He tried to move, but his body would not listen to him, and his thoughts went hazy, and he _knew what this was. _Bloody rage, murderous instincts brought to the front, a palpable feeling of despair in the air - the feeling of never being safe again. _Killing Intent. _His body refused to obey, even as he recognized what was happening - and that he had felt it before, far worse than this. _Naruto. The demon's power._

"I _am _your superior," Kakashi said slowly, dangerously. "Though I appreciate your zeal in protecting your teammates, evading the rules merely for your own curiosity is despicable behaviour. Appealing to the _team leader _or majority vote - it means nothing without my authorization. _I _am your sensei, and you will remember that. Understood?"

Sasuke grimaced, setting a shaky step backwards as he slowly regained control of his limbs under that impossible pressure. Sakura was beside him somewhere, and he could practically sense her fear - she had never been exposed to this.

Quite suddenly, the Killing Intent vanished, and Kakashi looked bored as ever. He turned away, but his rigid stance betrayed his focus. "If you're so sure you want to know, I'll tell you - though you won't like the answer. The truth is... Naruto committed treason."

Sakura beat Sasuke to the punch. _"W-What?" _She clambered to her feet, staring. "What was - that?"

The Jōnin sighed, catching Sasuke's gaze with a narrowed eye. "I followed Naruto's clone squads with some of my own, to keep an eye out. A small battalion of his Shadow Clones moved across Konoha's border into Ame, right around the same time that Muneyoshi intercepted you here. They were moving in formation, clearly on a mission of some sort. Needless to say, smuggling Shinobi across borders is not allowed."

"But - it's clones," Sakura said carefully, nervously rubbing her hands together as she shivered, slowly recovering from the sudden shock. "He - can't control them after he makes them, can he?"

"Most likely they were sent to get Kurenai-sensei," Sasuke said warily. "They must have traced Muneyoshi across the border, and followed the trail. Probably didn't even know it was the border - it's in the middle of the forest, after all."

Kakashi looked unimpressed. "My clone kept watch from afar, tracking their chakra for as long as I could, though I could not afford to break the law myself. Approximately ten minutes ago, a woman from Ame left Kurenai across the border. She was a shinobi, I am certain." He looked away. "What must I conclude from this? Naruto's clones travel into a foreign nation, and an Ame shinobi returns a captured shinobi to our side. You have learned enough history to know what it implies. I could not stand idly by."

"You're thinking Naruto betrayed Konoha to a bunch of foreigners?" Sasuke snorted. "He wants to be _Hokage_. He's serious about it, too. You think _he _would do something like that?"

"Tell me what it looks like, then," Kakashi said firmly. "From my experience, this reeks of a deal with the enemy, and that is treason without the Hokage's authorization, or at least the council's approval. Naruto likely offered something in exchange for Kurenai's life - a favour, perhaps. Since a foreign nation could certainly retrieve a lot of information from a fresh Jōnin, not yet trained in resistance to torture or similar techniques, he must have offered something very enticing."

"Like _what_?"

Kakashi looked exhausted, then, his shoulders slumping slightly. "Ibiki-san will find out, I'm sure." He looked at Naruto, troubled. "Keeping secrets as a shinobi is practically mandatory; that's why the Hokage has been lenient on figuring out where and from whom Naruto has been learning his tricks. Stolen scrolls can be dealt with, and even Tailed Beasts to an extent. But treason - even a Jinchūriki will stand trial for that."

"A trial?" Sasuke's mouth snapped closed as he hissed in anger. "_Itachi _killed my entire clan and got away with it for _years_, and now you're practically shoving Naruto in jail over something like this? Just after he effectively single-handedly won against a Missing-Nin Jōnin?" He clenched his fists, which still trembled. "Against this Muneyoshi not even that _Raikiri _of yours could work, if not for Naruto softening him up, crippling his ability. He was literally the only one who had a way to beat him. He probably _saved our lives._"

Kakashi stared, and Sakura looked uncomfortable at the heated discussion.

"I can't believe you don't see it. We all know that Naruto would easily pass a Chūnin exam as it is," Sasuke said. "I am above average - but he is more so. Do you think he needs this team to advance? Needs any of us? With what he carries, he could influence the Hokage or the Council members to advance him, as he fully intends to advance quickly - a battlefield promotion, if you wish. He has the skill, and he knows the right people. Yet - here he is. Why? Because he just loves to chase cats and tend farms, or escort poor farmers past some bandits in a proper C-rank?"

"He said he wants to make us better - as a team!" Sakura spoke up, suddenly. "He wanted the whole group to get better - that's what he said. Like the Sannin!"

"Yes. He is here not because of himself - he doesn't need C-rank missions - but because of _us_." He frowned. "As for the trial - anything the village might try to level against him can't go too far, since they can't risk the Kyūbi getting out, or Naruto turning away from the village. That's likely how he's never gotten into trouble for all the other things he's been doing, either." He paused. "And yet, I have never heard of him doing things against the village, besides stupid pranks. If there is one thing that is a constant - it is Naruto's love for Konoha and its people. He's not afraid to talk about that, is he? So no - I don't believe he is a traitor, based on some flimsy circumstantial observations with clones. Not for a moment."

Kakashi shook his head. "That is not for you to determine, Sasuke. You know nothing."

"Perhaps not," Sasuke agreed. "But I know enough. Don't think I'm stupid, sensei. Naruto is the Kyūbi's container, and I know what that implies." He smiled slightly, a viper approaching its prey. "It's not a coincidence that it's him, is it? That _Naruto _carries the beast? No, there is a connection with the one who sealed it, written in blood."

"Sasuke!" Kakashi hissed, his eye widening. "Not here."

Sasuke snorted as he shook his head. "So, I am right. _That_ is yet another reason why any trial would be a sham. It would be an excuse to muzzle someone who the most powerful people in Konoha know they can't stop in any other way. Supposed treason would be the perfect excuse to do something like that - and I know who would be responsible for carrying out the sentence." He balled his fists, recalling that little black scroll he had been handed, those orders to betray his teammate. "You have already sent a message to Konoha, I'm sure. It's too late to stop this at the root."

Kakashi masterfully avoided reacting - but that told Sasuke all he needed to know.

"Sasuke...?" Sakura asked, eyes wide. "You were talking about a connection in blood... Are you saying-"

He nodded sharply as he turned away, certain she would connect the dots; she was clever enough. "I will do it your way, sensei. Naruto can be revived once we are back in civilized parts. Then - then I will talk to him, by myself. If I can figure all this out, then I have no doubt he has. We will see what can be done, then." He glanced warningly at Kakashi. "You will leave him be. You've done enough."

Kakashi just sighed tiredly.

Sasuke moved to Naruto's side, still puzzled over the reasons for his anger. _Why don't I hate you?_ He frowned as he began readying his unconscious teammate for transport. _What is it that you share with Itachi, which transcends all your differences? _

_Why do I believe you?_

* * *

"Hn. Stupid brat. You should have seen that coming." Kurama grumbled.

"Who says that I didn't?" Naruto sighed as he opened his eyes, staring up at the huge towering gates of his seal, dominating the dank sewer-like form that his mind seemed to prefer. He took in the shadowed eyes of the Nine-Tailed Fox, looming from the darkness, and shrugged. Water lapped around his ankles, but he kept himself sitting firmly on top of it with a slight application of chakra. "Granted, the details are a bit different from what I expected, but this whole trip has been a bit of a diversion from the usual anyway."

The dimly lit nature of the seal had never really done much for him - but Naruto had to admit that with the water lapping at his skin, the silence allowed him to think far more easily than most places, and to avoid the panic that would consume him on the outside. The darkness and desolation were peaceful in their own way, he supposed. Kurama, of course, made a habit of deliberately breaking through that placidity - but never quite succeeded.

Naruto had expected Kakashi's action, if he was completely honest. Not right now, perhaps, but somewhere along the road home. Perhaps when the ANBU met up with the group, so that he could easily be transported to the Hokage without a fuss - to the inevitable trial that awaited, a sham though it might be. The uncomfortable realization had come the moment that his clones in Ame had popped - but there was no sense in crying over spilt milk.

"The rules are plenty clear, and when it comes to things like this, they are doubly so. Kakashi did what he had to do," Naruto said softly. "I can't fault him for that."

The fox sniffed. "You showed your hand, boy. How long before they find that you are cheating, playing with cards that you haven't yet drawn?"

Naruto shrugged lightly.

Kurama snarled. "Do not ignore me!"

"I'm not - I'm just thinking," Naruto said honestly, looking up between the bars. "You saw everything that happened, didn't you? The fight against Muneyoshi, the clones protecting Team 8, that peculiar meeting with Nagato?" He cocked his head to the side. "You can't read my mind, precisely, but I know you can at least get some idea of what I'm doing, since the other you told me as much. If you know what happened, then why do you berate me for it?"

_"You showed your hand." _Kurama snarled.

"Yes. Sasuke and Sakura know enough to establish an opinion of me, I suspect, after this whole mess. They might not know the truth that I shared with you, but they know enough about my skills and my personality to work with. Kakashi, too." He sighed. "This moment was inevitable. I was very lucky to get away with my actions in Suna, and I nearly died when Hidan caught up with me, so it's a small miracle that nobody found out about my excursions until now. I can't be resentful over the fact that they captured the Queen, when I was fully responsible for putting the chess pieces on the board in the first place."

"You have no idea what you have done, do you?" Kurama asked from the darkness. "What stupidity is it, to reveal your power and then let yourself get captured?"

"You know exactly what I did, and you must have an inkling as to why. You're not stupid," Naruto said dryly. His eyes met those of the fox with absolute resolve. "Tobi is out there, already preparing his future war, we both know that. Showing my skills to Sasuke and Sakura was something I did because of the opening that Kakashi left me - I intended to do so when it was convenient, since they of all people should have enough of an idea. Sensei gave me a good excuse to show what I was capable of, at least in part, and that's key. I will need those two. I've already tried this alone - and the result was _bad_." He shivered. "Sometimes it feels like they are the only thing keeping me _sane_, you know."

"You're not sane, boy."

Naruto sighed, ignoring the jibe. "The other opportunity that presented itself was completely unplanned as well, but I could not skip it. To prevent what I knew will happen normally, I had to send a message to Nagato - one way or another. The destruction of Konoha by Pain was a key event that I intend to prevent. If Konoha can remain powerful enough to withstand Akatsuki, then we have a chance - especially if we gather the Jinchūriki." He frowned. "There is only one way in which I could make sure that Nagato got the message - and I suspect he got a little more than that. It will be interesting to see what results. But I won't regret it, since it _felt right, _and it has been a long time since I listened to my gut instincts."

"And now you are captured, and you will not see your plan come to fruition. You will rot in a cell, a tool at the whim of Konoha's underbelly," Kurama said, sniffing. "Pathetic."

Naruto scoffed. "The old man might keep me inside city limits, but he knows that he can't afford to toss me out of the shinobi force, especially with Akatsuki active in the world - and I have a few other aces up my sleeve. Even if he knows that I crossed a border illegally, he'll just have to trust me on my motives, and the fact that I brought Kurenai back. I suppose sacrificing the close connection I had with the Third is another nasty effect of my attitude that I hadn't fully considered - and something I should seek to fix." He sighed. "Still, Nagato died by his own hand last time around, after expending his energy in a drawn-out battle against the two of us. I will not allow that to happen this time, not if I can help it. He was the first to control the _Rinnegan _to its potential since the Sage of the Six Paths, that means something."

Kurama narrowed his eyes. "The transplants you mentioned, I assume."

"Yes. Nagato is also the person whose path I've walked, without realizing it at the time." He looked away, grimacing. "I have told you of the future, of the long false peace and the onset of the fifth war, one that would certainly destroy what remained of the shinobi villages. It was shortly after the end of the Fourth War, that things started going wrong, though I suspect the seeds were sown during that conflict. I stepped into Nagato's shoes in response, and I am unsure if I have pried them off, even now."

"What did you do?" Kurama asked. "Speak."

Naruto sighed as he took in the surprisingly inquisitive gaze of the Bijū, and smiled. "Not all of it was bad, not at first. I helped Gaara rebuild his village - not much was left of Suna, but the civilians had already evacuated so it was not so different from Konoha after Nagato's assault. I spent time as a personal assistant to the Hokage, Kakashi, while I was recovering from the war." He hesitated. "That was when things went from bad to worse, really. I got more distant from everyone due to what happened in the war, all the people who I failed to save, and it wasn't until recently that I saw just how much it affected me. At that time, Kumo started rearming against its neighbours, with Kiri and Iwa following quickly - even my friendship with Bee was tainted by the animosity." He sighed, staring down at his reflection. "I got angry at him, then - and it was years before we saw each other once again. On the battlefield."

He stood up, pacing in front of the cage. "I felt betrayed - what we worked for in the war, all those deaths, they were squandered over border disputes and trade embargos and supposed 'accidents', and the alliance fell apart, piece by piece. I got angry, even thinking about it hurt - and that led me to do the kinds of missions I wouldn't have considered. Spying at first; innocent enough, I figured. With your assistance, hiding my chakra was easy, and I had plenty of experience in sneaking around from my youth. It made me feel like I was doing something. Assassinations followed quickly, by my own request."

Kurama blinked. "_Your_ request?"

"Yes - I demanded to be put on the front line of the budding war, so that I could stifle it in the bud. Of course, the war was mostly fought in minor skirmishes and assassinations at that time, since most countries had army-killers in their employ after the war ended. Kakashi-sensei was not happy with my decision to become a glorified Hunter-nin, I could tell, but that choice was mine to make. So, I learned to kill - it was not hard, since there was little left in me to protest." He sighed. "I had killed my heart already, years before, I just didn't realize it - or didn't comprehend that it had happened, perhaps."

"The Uchiha." It was not a question, a simple statement.

Naruto nodded miserably, closing his eyes. "Sasuke was the turning point - I realized that afterwards, and it's become ever clearer. He was the lynchpin around which my whole personality turned at that time. I was obsessed with retrieving him, and made him into a symbol for my ideals, the core of what I was." He grimaced. "And then I killed him - and I died, too. Or at least, that part which was invested into the retrieval. Sakura seemed worse off than me - but I think everyone underestimated my pain. Even I did."

He was silent for a time, staring up at the dark ceiling. "You told me once that I returned here, to this time, out of cowardice. I disagreed with you then - but I think you were right after all. Cowardice was at the core of it, and that is not something that my younger self would have been able to stomach. It shows me how much I've diverted from what I was." He rubbed a hand across his belly. "And yet - my motives make me queasy now, just thinking about them. They never did, before." He frowned. "But - I can't really force myself to think on the reason for it. I suppose I'm still a coward, then."

The fox leaned forward, its eyes gleaming. "I told you that there was always a price," he said slowly. "You are a force for order - there must always be a force for chaos in response. That is how things work. It would be easy, wouldn't it, if you were the emotionless machine that you made yourself, the assassin that killed his heart? That being which saw opportunity and took it, fleeing from responsibility when he could, and abandoned his world without a second thought."

"Hey -"

Kurama's eyes flared as he reached forward into the light, staring down at the speck that was his host. "There is a price for your hubris, as there is for all things you change, now that you are here. You decided to alter your life's path, to deviate from your former existence, knowing that it would lead you through a gauntlet of pain. You will suffer for your choice, just as you suffered to become what you were, before. Some part of you will have to bear it - or you will find yourself with a sword at your gut, one of these days. And I will not let you die."

"It's guilt, isn't it," Naruto concluded weakly. "Sadness, loss, fear. It's all returning, isn't it? Everything I've done - everything I've thought... my younger self would be _revolted_. That's why..." He shuddered. "I didn't just step back in time - I stepped back into my old life."

"You were foolish to believe that the way was easy. The connections you made do not vanish, simply because you choose to ignore them - they last," Kurama agreed. "You were forcing yourself to go through the motions, when you arrived, and it deepened your wounds. You thought of your precious team as a tool - and little else. You moved with purpose, according to a plan of your own devising, but did not realize for a long time that your way was even _worse _than what you did the last time."

"Worse?"

Kurama snorted. "Had you continued with your feigned life, you would have undoubtedly sparked a war, or tipped off your foe. The result - destruction, death, the demise of all you know." Kurama smirked. "Yet you still found yourself connecting with certain people, seeking them out even as you rationalized away your reasons - and that saved you from the darkest path. Perhaps you feared what has happened to your psyche, and you were waiting, stalling for the inevitable moment of realization. Desiring the destruction of yourself."

There was a long, drawn-out silence.

"I'm not alone in here," Naruto whispered. "Am I?"

The change was subtle, but Naruto felt something change, and Kurama smiled toothily, drawing back into the shadows. His eyes glittered with interest, but no malice.

"Of course you're not alone," spoke a voice. His own voice.

A short figure stood beside him, dressed in an orange-and-blue vest and bright orange pants, a pair of goggles perched on his bright blond hair. The two of them could have been twins - and probably were. The new figure's bright blue eyes met Naruto's with a warmth that startled him.

"You-" he exclaimed. "You are-"

The figure smiled - an innocent, happy smile. One that he could only imagine mimicking when he was utterly free. "Naruto - yes. And I'm no revolted, really - I'm the type that barely notices he's drinking milk that's gone bad, though, so I might not be the best judge." He paused. "Um, have you looked in the mirror, lately? I think you should. It might answer a few of the questions you have."

Naruto blinked. "A _mirror_? Why?"

The orange-clad version of himself shrugged, and his eyes seemed suddenly old. "It is a good means of reflection, don't you agree? Water will do, I think."

Naruto started, then very slowly moved his gaze downwards, suddenly terrified of what he might find when he looked at his reflection. He paused, catching his copy's eyes again as he got cold feet - and he was startled by their total lack of judgment. _I never look like that!_

"Go on."

Naruto's gaze met the suddenly perfectly still water, and his reflection wavered into existence, meeting his gaze with a slightly nervous expression, tinged with a hint of irrational fear.

Which very quickly turned to real fear.

The sclera of his eyes were a deep black.

* * *

"My designation is Shin, Jiraiya-sama. That can be considered - my name."

The Toad Sage grunted in recognition as he gestured him aside, pacing through the sparsely-decorated office that formerly belonged to Danzō, though that man was presently with the Hokage. "Right. Take a seat, will you." He paced slowly, his eyes gliding past the tall cases full of scrolls that flanked the desk before focusing on the two young boys who still stood before him. "You know why I called for you, I assume?"

Shin nodded, slowly. "You wish to interrogate us."

Jiraiya started. "No- that's not exactly..." He sighed. "I suppose that's as accurate as anything. Though I don't think that questions by the new leader of your - _organization -_ count as interrogation, really. I would assume it was common enough with your former superior."

"All questioning of _Root_ agents is classified as interrogation," Shin volunteered immediately. "Except when it is done by Danzō-sama, of course. That is how _Root_ has operated since long before I became a member, and I doubt that the others will wish to change this matter. It would be - unnatural."

Jiraiya nodded slowly, grimacing slightly as he met the two placid faces across from him - their emotions were well-hidden. "It's interesting that you can say this much, really, since I was under the impression that the seal on your tongue limits your options regarding the relaying of secrets." He narrowed his eyes. "You cannot by chance tell me how it works? What it's supposed to do?"

Shin remained silent.

"That is not a surprise. It's keyed to Danzō alone - and I can't remove the damn things, not yet." He frowned as he considered that information. "Still - seals like these have limits - you can't get around that fact." He glanced up speculatively. "I take it that you cannot answer sensitive questions - but that in itself tells quite a bit about the answer. After all, if the seal reacts, it implies that I am approaching the truth."

Shin nodded slightly, glancing to his side. The second boy was a teen with a pallid complexion and dark hair - Shin's sort-of-brother, Sai.

"Very well, then." Jiraiya said, clearing his throat. "I've read the relevant _Root_ reports that were declassified, and a few that weren't. I know that you two were engaged in various training exercises, and that you were personally involved in some of Danzō's affairs - more so than most. Can either of you explain the recent alterations in Danzō's behaviour?"

Silence.

"Again, unsurprising," Jiraiya murmured. "Whatever is responsible would almost definitely be considered a secret. Yet - I can speculate, since the timing is rather curious. Tell me, does it have anything to do with a Genin of this village? A certain Uzumaki Naruto?"

Jiraiya saw the slightest expression of surprise flit across Shin's face before it vanished back under the placid expression - and he remained silent. He was right on the money, then.

"So, Naruto is involved," Jiraiya said tiredly. "Did he ever have contact with Danzō?"

"No."

Jiraiya blinked, then nodded. "It's interesting how you could answer that... but that raises further questions. If they never met, then how is Naruto involved in recent events?" He frowned. "What do you know of current _Root _activities surrounding Naruto?"

"He is under surveillance while in the village, after his recent introduction of the Suna host to Konoha," Shin said.

"I knew that much - the Hokage has assigned ANBU operatives to the task." Jiraiya frowned. "If it is not Naruto's person that's involved, then maybe his actions? Did he do something that led Danzō to his present course?"

Silence.

"He did, didn't he?" Jiraiya muttered. "Is Root itself involved with Naruto in any way? Did Root operatives train him, or otherwise involve themselves in his development as a shinobi?"

Silence.

"Well..." Jiraiya sighed, shaking his head. "I figured this is how it would go. Danzō's got you muzzled like dogs. Even if you knew the answer - and I'm not sure that you do - you would be incapable of telling me without dying."

He paced across the room, his hands gliding across the scrolls before he found the one he was after. He opened it, revealing a drawing of a simple seal, headed by the title '_Jashin'._ He put the scroll in front of Shin. "This was found in Konoha hospital - and it is listed among lost Root assets in declassified files."

"Yes," Shin said quickly. "That scroll was found missing from a small repository near the north wall - a Root operative discovered it after - a mission." He frowned. "The scroll was apparently being smuggled out of the city, but the culprit was never caught."

"Stealing scrolls," Jiraiya murmured. "Any chakra trace?"

"Some - the individual who stole it likely had a proclivity for fire jutsu, it seems - that is all that is currently known."

"Fire. Well, at least it isn't wind..." Jiraiya grimaced. "Assuming that _Root _acquired the scroll after the theft, how did it make its way into the hospital?"

Shin shrugged. "I don't know, sir. It was reported missing shortly after its retrieval - likely it was taken on the same day. This is only very shortly before the events in which it was put to use. Whoever it was, clearly knew that it would be used in short order - most likely an accomplice of the attacker at the hospital."

"Which implies that Akatsuki has infiltrated _Root. _I will need immediate access to anything that involves them - and I'll have to see how someone managed it, so that I can stop that gap in security. Though - I suspect that the gap is by design, rather than accident."

"Yes, sir. Though it will take a little time to gather such materials."

Jiraiya rose, his expression stormy. "So that is the answer. Akatsuki. They are the ones who have been pressuring Shimura Danzō to give up his position, using an attack on Naruto - they must have planned for my takeover of his role. They got to Danzō - and perhaps they are controlling him, in the same way as they controlled the medic Ryosuke. It goes all the way to the top." He paled, then. "And Danzō is with the Hokage - right now. You two - don't move."

Jiraiya turned and left, leaving the scroll before Shin, forgotten.

There was a long silence as the two _Root _agents remained.

Sai spoke up. "...He is impatient. He is not at all like Danzō-sama."

"We will adapt, nevertheless," Shin replied easily, reaching for the scroll. "Jiraiya-san is more than capable, after all. Even Danzō-sama acknowledged as much, and he does not compliment people easily." He gazed speculatively at the scroll, then at Sai. "I believe that it is time to purge Ryosuke-san from the records. If the connection between him and _Root_ is made, it would expose several more deep-cover spies, which we cannot afford right now. Not while Danzō-sama has not released them from service."

Sai nodded. "You will control the flow of information to Jiraiya-sama until such a time as he is ready to take over all responsibilities. That seems prudent."

"I do as commanded," Shin said with a slight grimace. "You should erase any evidence of illicit research in the hospital - that location is now too exposed, despite its usefulness. _Root _was never there." Shin nodded to himself. "Hide Danzō -sama's files on Uzumaki-san as well, and recent observations regarding Uchiha-san. Exposure of observations could well destabilize matters, if Jiraiya-sama is as impulsive as he seems."

Sai frowned slightly. "What about-"

"I will send someone to make her disappear," Shin said quickly, and his gaze darkened. "Theft of _Root _property must be punished - even if her actions saved a person of interest. That scroll should never have been connected to the matter at all." He frowned. "Consider her dead. Go."

"Yes, brother." Sai smiled, if only slightly, as he vanished.

Shin sat down with a slight smile, staring at the scroll. "Well, well - so _you _are in the village. Interesting."

He never observed the tiny creature in the bookcase, or the whiff of smoke that silently released itself from in between the scrolls.

* * *

Naruto crawled away on all fours, but his reflection followed him, of course - he stopped a little distance away, staring. "What... what the hell? Those aren't _my eyes! _What the hell did you do, Kurama?!"

The fox let out a soft chuckle, which rumbled through the cavernous room eerily. His slit eyes watched on with clear amusement. "I told you there would be a price, boy," he said slowly. "The true core of your self is bare to the world, at least in here."

"It's alright," the other Naruto said apologetically, glaring briefly at the fox. "I didn't mean to scare you - but I figured that you had to know, since you were talking like you didn't realize..."

Naruto stood back up, staring at himself in the water, and then back at the bright-eyed version of him that still stood where he had appeared, hands in his pockets. "I don't - I don't understand."

The other shrugged, gesturing to his side as he sat down - a bench seemed to bend itself into being below him - stone arched upwards to meet his movement. Naruto carefully walked back, glancing nervously at his black eyes. He looked like an _Edo Tensei _zombie - or more aptly, his own darker half from the Waterfall of Truth. Which made a terrifying amount of sense, now that he thought about it.

"Sit."

Naruto obediently sat down on the stone bench, and found it comfortably warm and soft - almost as if it wasn't stone at all. He glanced aside nervously, and studied that other face.

"I'm you," the other Naruto said. "Obviously - nobody else would bother to look like this." He chuckled slightly, then blinked. "Well - sort of. I don't really know if there's been a situation like this, really."

"Sort of...?" Naruto shook his head, trying to focus. "I don't remember making a Shadow Clone."

"That's cause I'm not a clone, and you are aware of that, I think. I'm you; I have your - our memories, but not quite all of them, so I suppose I'm not the same anymore..." The other frowned, narrowing his eyes exaggeratedly. "It's all kind of messy - you, or I, had a lot of stuff in there that was just gross, so I threw it out. But - I got the important bits, I think."

_Who are you?_

"But, I'm kind of getting ahead of myself. You've been here before, right? This situation - for a different reason though. It was in Kumo, on the island that was a giant turtle, or something like that." The other pondered for a moment, frowning. "Yes - I was there with the Eight-Tails. To beat the big bastard, here." He gestured aside, rolling his eyes.

There was a growl, but thankfully Kurama kept out of it.

"The waterfall," Naruto observed carefully. "That's where I met my darker half - the hatred inside me. But - I... I beat it - I accepted it." He looked down at his reflection, and swallowed. "You're telling me that I'm not really... me, right? I'm - what the hell am I, then? A memory?" He grasped at his chest, suddenly constricted by his vest, by his _skin. _"That's not _possible!_"

The other laughed lightly, and grabbed his arm in a vice-like grip. "Come on, don't be a dumbass like I can be. You're me, and I'm you, and that's all there is to it. That's how it worked that other time too, right? It's not like you killed him."

Naruto stared.

"Come - if you weren't all worked up all of a sudden, you probably would have figured this out already." The other him smiled warmly. "I mean - it took me a few days to get over it, so I suppose I can kind of get how you're shocked, but honestly, you're _old. _Don't you get elderly wisdom with the years or something? Or doesn't that kick in until you go gray?"

"You-" Naruto paused. "Wait..."

"Finally caught on, then." The other nodded. "You didn't read the fine print before going back, I suppose. Not a surprise - I was never too good at reading either. I mean, look at me, taking _forever _to pass the exams. I sort of failed like five times in total now, with all these memories, so that's kind of embarrassing..."

"You know... You remind me a little of mom," Naruto said wonderingly, then he blinked. "Wait, I remind me of mom? That's... actually kind of awesome."

"Heh, I guess that's a nice compliment to get," the other him said, rubbing the back of his head. "You're kind of a jutsu-flinging badass, so I guess that is more like dad, then! That fits, right?" He grinned widely. "I guess we're a little of both. I think I can feel them in here, sometimes - their chakra's still in the seal, after all. It feels like they're just beyond hearing distance, too."

"Yeah - I've been working on that, actually..." Naruto said, narrowing his eyes. "I really should complete that little project."

"You'll figure it out," the other said confidently. "If I can't trust you - well, I take it that you know who I am by now."

Naruto looked at him, and nodded slowly. "Me - the other me. The one that I was supposed to be, but aren't."

The other shrugged. "Close. You remember how you woke up in bed, sheets all tangled up, right after you finished that technique of the Sage's, the fancy seal array?" The other him winked. "I'm the guy that went to sleep the night before."

Naruto stared, horrified. "Wait - then I took over your body! _Crap. _I didn't know that there would be anyone I was evicting! I wouldn't have-"

"Can you even take over your own body?" the other Naruto interrupted, ignoring Naruto's protest. "I mean, we're us, right? You're like, me with a lot of other stuff on top, but still me at the centre, right?" He frowned. "I was mad at you for a couple days - especially when you went killing people with my body, but..."

"Oh, _shit -"_

The other Naruto just looked impatient, now. "Yeah, yeah - I know what shinobi do, I shouldn't have been that horrified in retrospect - don't embarrass us, please. Anyway, you know how I can see our memories, right? Since we're the same person and everything. When _that_ happened with Mizuki-sensei, I decided to find out what was going on, and what happened, so I sort of understand, now. I guess. It's sort of complicated."

"I didn't intend this," Naruto said strongly.

"I know - actually, I think I sort of reached you, out there, when you were doubting yourself. I mean, you couldn't see me when you came here to speak with the fox, but you were starting to act differently, I could tell. Less like the killer badass that I can apparently become, and more like -"

"You," Naruto finished, his mouth suddenly dry. "When I decided to change the way I did things, after Ryosuke..."

The other nodded. "I got stronger again, then - and I could talk to the big beast, here. And then when you healed Shino, you got close enough for me to become visible to you again." He gestured to himself. "We went from being really different to having something in common, and most of that was from your end, so I suppose I should thank you." He smiled broadly. "I guess being back here in this time really got you thinking again, huh? Now that you're... not a complete stranger anymore, you can acknowledge me."

Naruto looked down at his reflection's dark eyes, and blinked. "I never thought it would be like this - I thought that I would just replace, override what was already there, in the past. I mean, I never tested it with people before I went through, but Nin-Animals worked just fine..."

"That probably would have been what happened - if we were similar at all. If I have it right, everything you sent back was over short periods, so how much could they honestly have changed in that time?" The other stuck out his tongue. "You were kind of a mess when you arrived, though, after all the crap that happened - way too different mentally, and way too strong-willed to let me any leeway. All spines and pointy bits, no mushy centre."

Naruto grumbled something under his breath, then sighed. "So, without even knowing it, I locked you in here? I locked you up with the fox, in my seal?"

"Ah - not really." The other gestured to the cage. "He's stuck there, until you unlock the door again. I'm free, and can get around and look outside - it's just that you're not quite _me _enough to be me, if you're following me." He rubbed the back of his head again. "Now I'm confusing myself..."

"Can I even - be like that again?" Naruto wondered. "Be like you were? Considering all that happened in between now and then..."

"_But it didn't happen,_" the other said with emphasis. "That's how this time thing works, right? Those events never happened - so what you have to do is prevent them, and you can put the guilt behind you, and work on fixing yourself. Do what you feel is right - like you did the last time - and make sure that you don't repeat your mistakes. Save the village, save Sasuke, beat the bad guys. That's what I would do - so that's how you get back to where you want to be. Then we'll be the same. That way, the you that lost his way - won't _be _anymore. He won't have to be."

"I'll die, then?" Naruto shivered.

"If by die - you mean live," the other replied dubiously. "You're making this more complicated than it needs to be, really. You're already different from yesterday - did that you _die_? Let's face it, the version of you that arrived here would have probably taken Kakashi-sensei's arm off for what he just did."

Naruto couldn't suppress a shiver as he considered the darkened eyes in his reflection, the realization that he was the darker half of his own being, let loose upon the world. He couldn't remember ever looking at his reflection in here - how long had it been like this? "Then - will you stay? Help me?"

"Of course I will," the other said, rolling his eyes. "What, do you think I have someone else to be?"

"...I really am confusing myself, aren't I?"

"You're telling _me_?"

"I thought I got enough of this with my smart-ass clones, damn it..."

* * *

"Danzō?"

"Hiruzen." The bandaged man turned slightly, meeting the old man's gaze. He brushed a hand across his bandaged eye - it ached slightly even under the cover of darkness, a remnant of the technique used to implant it. "Have you come to sentence me, at last?"

The Third looked old, older than even the day before. Danzō acknowledged his own infirmities, though he had prepared himself for such eventualities. Still - he knew that even now, a battle between them could only end one way. It had never been quite a fair fight, after all.

"Danzō, do you think so lowly of me?" Hiruzen stepped forward, remaining in the shadows, even as Danzō gazed out over the village, the sun high in the sky, illuminating his scarred face. "You were stripped of your rank and your role in the village already - that is punishment enough for disobedience, I believe."

"It is not." Danzō looked to the Hokage, narrowing his eye. "Do you remember, Hiruzen, when we shared duties in the first war, when Nidaime-sama decided to elect you as the next Hokage? When you were chosen for that honour? If you had betrayed the trust that was put in you, what should have been your punishment? What should I have done? Be impartial - treason begets only one punishment."

The Third frowned momentarily, a hard glint in his eyes. "Do you wish to die, then?"

"What I wish is not important. It is not my life that I am worried about," Danzō replied morosely, and he paused for a moment. "You are aware that my father and grandfather died in battle as ninja, protecting the interests of this village to their dying breath. Self-sacrifice like that is a ninja's duty, and I share their commitment. If I should die, then I intend to do so for Konoha."

"Words."

Danzo shook his head slowly. "Words, actions, intentions - does it matter? You have grown weak, Hiruzen. You remain a shinobi of great power, of that I am certain, but there were days when you would have done what was necessary. When you would have acted decisively."

Hiruzen sat down in his chair, steepling his hands. "You have abandoned your _Root - _you have cut yourself off from them, and delivered to me the fruits of your labour. Yet - it was not I that wielded the shears that cut the stem."

Danzo nodded. "You have known of what I did for many years - and yet you never acted. It was a symptom, was it not?"

The Third leaned back in his chair, gazing from under his hat at his old ally. "You know why you were allowed to do what you did, all this time, under my very nose. You were always the one who could do what was necessary, after all, the one who would tread where even demons fear."

"I am well aware."

"I could never reach Tobirama-sensei's example in some ways - if not in power, then in personality. I was never capable of being as impartial as he, as harsh - especially as I gained a family of my own. That is why I allowed you free reign to govern that which I could not." He frowned. "But now, that time is over."

"It is done," Danzō agreed. "You let your emotion guide you - and that is necessary, sometimes. I acknowledge that it is a powerful catalyst, one that has made you arguably our strongest Hokage. Still, it is a double-edged blade. It can lead one to indecision both through love and through hate - or it can bring you to make poor choices. Those lead to conflict, and to war. Neither of us desires another war - and if one comes to our doorstep, then Konoha should end it, quickly. You were always unwilling to face these matters. Unwilling to make choices."

"So you made it for me." Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, sitting up straighter. "But for what purpose? You removed yourself from your position, you made it impossible to reclaim the relative anonymity that you enjoyed. Too many have already heard of your transgressions and the existence of _Root,_ so that I cannot truly cover it up. Now - you are merely an advisor, at best."

"It is all I need," Danzo said carefully. "After all - it is advisors with much experience in warfare and espionage that you will need in the future. Such people will be highly prized in the coming years."

The Third sighed. "You suspect that a war is coming, then? Tensions have been higher than normal - but I would not go _that _far."

Danzō snorted derisively. "I have always looked further ahead than you, Hiruzen. You are content to believe that the status quo will be maintained, that the world will remain as you will it. For more than a decade, this has been the case - in part due to my diligence - and Konoha has prospered. But I can see the storm clouds, now, even as the sky is clear. I can smell it in the air, long before it crosses the horizon. There will be another war - worse than any we have seen."

"And you have removed yourself from your position of power," Hiruzen said. "Why? To prove that you are genuine in relaying these supposed portents of doom? To grant control of Root back to me, forcing me to face the existence of those shinobi?"

"No." Danzō smiled thinly. "It is a test. One that you are failing."

"A test? Do not think me one of your subordinates, which you can so easily manipulate." Hiruzen stepped forward, removing his hat and placing it beside him on the table. "What do you hope to test by attracting my attention like this, by forcing my hand? We had an arrangement, one that should have satisfied your curiosity - yet now there is this."

"Yours is a test of your will," Danzō said simply. "To see how far you will go, for Konoha, even if you might have turned soft. You know me well enough that I would not speak of war, if I did not have good reasons to believe that one is coming. You were wilfully unaware of my activities for all these years - and we only discussed matters when they became immediately relevant. This is no different in that respect. You were against my approach when the Uchiha problem raised its ugly head, if you recall. You offered no alternative, though, and in the end I was the one that had to make the decision. That told me enough about how you would rule, should you be faced with another war. You are not as you used to be, Hiruzen."

The Third looked away, and was silent for a long time. "I wonder if Minato would have had the answer, back then. I could not see one, and time ran out before I did." He shook his head tiredly. "Perhaps."

"Regardless, I made the choice that needed to be made. Would it have been a better choice, if it had been made by _that _man?"

Hiruzen's eyes snapped up, blazing. "You made someone murder his own family, Danzō. _A son had to kill his own mother._ Even in my darkest days I would never have ordered _that _boy to do such a thing. It was monstrous!"

"Uchiha Itachi knew what had to be done," Danzō said coldly. "More than you did - or than you do, even now. Itachi understood me better than you do, as well." He stared unflinchingly into Hiruzen's eyes as he stepped towards him, his walking stick tapping on the hardwood floor. "The boy did what was required of him to serve the village, and he did it willingly. Uchiha Itachi would have made a fine Hokage."

The Third shook his head resolutely. "You had his emotions locked away by force, his family destroyed by his own hand. You destroyed him, Danzō. _You_ destroyed a boy that showed such promise, because it was the easy way out."

"I could not have known what lay under the surface, what wounds he already carried. Yet, the decision had to be made - so I made it, and prevented a civil war that would have slain far more. That you do not understand that mentality is to your credit - it means that you can rule with compassion, that you can the one who people look up to." He shrugged. "But your lack of understanding also underscores the necessity of my presence - and you realize this as well, I am certain."

"I don't understand what it is you seek - if you know that danger is coming, then what do you intend to do?" He clasped his hands together leaning forward into the light. "What is it that you want?"

"That is simple," Danzō spoke, and a faint smile curled around the corners of his mouth. "And you already know what it is. You have seen it as I have, I am certain - doubtlessly it has worried you, even as it has delighted me, to have one such as him, again. You asked me to test the members of _that _team, after all - you cannot blame me for acting on what I found."

"Kakashi's team," Hiruzen said, frowning. "You ensured me of the Uchiha's loyalty."

"Oh, he displays none of his brother's - less convenient traits. Though - I question whether or not it is _Konoha _that he has sold his loyalty to." Danzo raised an eyebrow. "Uchiha Sasuke is irrelevant for the moment, though. He is important in some respects, but if he were to abandon the village to hunt his brother, I would have him hunted down as easily as any other. The Haruno girl is of even less relevance - she is uncomplicated, straightforward."

"Naruto." Hiruzen leaned forward, his eyes blazing. "What did you do?"

"Yes - the Jinchūriki. The Fourth's legacy." Danzo smirked. "You know that some things are inevitable - but you have avoided facing the decisions that lay ahead regarding his person. He is quickly developing into that which you never had the stomach for."

"I will not let you take Naruto," said Hiruzen sharply. "I will not let you turn him into another Itachi - another tool to be discarded after its use is over." He stood, and age seemed to fall away from him even as he did. "Not him - never _him._"

Danzo smiled. "Confidence - good. Jiraiya-san is capable of taking over the most relevant parts of my former occupation, especially where it comes to war. He has the experience, even if he has less - desirable traits." He shrugged. "Without such - formal obligations, certain freedoms are open to me."

"What have you done, Danzō?" Hiruzen demanded, an edge of danger in his voice.

"Done? Nothing - not yet. Observed, spied, inspected; _Root_ is far more capable than some would believe, and some Genin have an inflated sense of their own ability, even if the gap between myth and reality is quickly closing." He turned slightly, still smiling. "I have always seen further than you, Hiruzen. I am well aware of who will be the lynchpin of the next war, as you were in the second, and Minato was in the third. Even as you spend your time deliberating over how to handle a prodigy who has eluded your sight for so long, I make preparations."

"You know?" Hiruzen asked, then, his eyes widening. "You know how Naruto became -"

"I know enough." Danzō stepped back to the balcony. "Uzumaki Naruto is to stand trial, for treason. You will soon receive the same message, I suspect."

"Treason? _Naruto?" _Hiruzen said sharply. "No."

Danzō shrugged lightly. "I wonder if the court will be amenable to handing over such a peculiar Genin to a highly decorated Jōnin with an extensive history in dealing with the most dangerous of Konoha shinobi? Especially one that is no longer constantly occupied by the seedier side of village politics?" He bowed mockingly. "I wish you well, Hiruzen."

He was gone.

Hiruzen raised his hand sharply, and a masked shinobi appeared beside him. "Get me Jiraiya - and send a summons for Shikaku-san."

"Immediately, sir."

The Third smiled thinly as he stepped out into the light. He reached into his robe, and retrieved a small scroll and unrolled it - it had been delivered earlier that day by a Nin-dog meant specifically for him - it was signed by Kakashi.

"So, the inevitable happens. Minato - I hope you're watching."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Team 7 returns to Konoha as a conflict breaks out over the team's, and in particularNaruto's future - Jiraiya, the Third and Danzō each have their own intentions, and with a sham trial waiting in the wings, things might get heated. Meanwhile, Naruto's dealing with his inner demons - both literal and figurative - as he considers his options. Even as he awaits judgment, there are people rallying to his cause; some out of honour, some out of gratitude, some out of a misplaced sense of obligation - and some uncertain of the reason why.

Above it all, the Mangekyo Sharingan looks out over the village once more.


	22. Caged Servant

**Chapter 22 - ****Caged Servant**

Shino felt _unusual_; chagrined, even. He mused on the strange feeling as he walked towards home, weighing the reasons for his unease. He knew one ultimate source, of course. The silence. For several days now, a total absence of sound had pervaded his body, something that he had not experienced in his entire existence since his memories of early infancy were spotty at best. The constant twitching of little feet was absent as well, the slow squirming that had become a sign of good health rather than that of disease as it was in others. Shino pressed his dark glasses straight with a single finger.

Kikaichi, the insects that the Aburame bred and lived in symbiosis with, were very picky about their particular host. Only very rarely did one of his family ever become utterly devoid of them as he now was. Between his wounds and the toxic demonic chakra that was responsible for his revival, it was a small wonder he would even recover use of his chakra pathways at all.

Shino frowned as he thought back to that moment of revival, when the numbness of dying had made way for the sharp pain of renewed life. Uzumaki Naruto, someone Shino had barely even spoken to in class, had always seemed more peculiar than most. A goof, generally uninterested in intellectual pursuits, Shino had largely written him off as someone of no importance, who would be a nuisance more than an asset.

Then the boy had saved his life.

He thought back to that confident figure that had stood in his mind, that image of his savior. He didn't know if Naruto had noticed, when he had entered the heart of the bughouse that represented his thoughts, he had looked older, far older than his physical age would betray. Tired eyes had looked at him, betraying sadness or regret, set in a face that had reminded him starkly of the Fourth Hokage. Shino suspected that, for a long instant, he had seen into Naruto's heart. He had seen the effect of his burden.

Shino considered the gift he had been given by someone who might as well have been a stranger. His arm had grown back from nothing by the Nine-Tailed Fox's toxic chakra. Capable of killing thousands, that terrible power had seeped into him and had left him _healthier_ than before in many ways. Granted, his new arm was slim and untrained, and it missed the interconnected kikaichi-tunnels that his former one had received in early youth, but it allowed him the manual dexterity he needed for hand signs. He could still be a shinobi.

Walking up the path to the Aburame household - he would have sent messenger bugs ahead, if he'd had any left - he considered the pain he would need to go through to adapt to a new colony, and the limitations that his new arm would lead to, even as he acknowledged that he might well have faced permanent disability or death if not for Team 7's arrival. His regenerated arm would never be fit for techniques that utilized _kikaichi, _but it could become stronger than the rest of him, which could be helpful. If he were to train that limb with pure strength in mind, he could potentially use it for a powerful deflective style, even. An Aburame capable of both advanced Taijutsu and high-level Kikaichi-related Ninjutsu would be quite a surprise on any battlefield.

His musing was interrupted by a sharp cry. "Shino!"

The Aburame paused, and he looked up with creased brow. "It is very rude to break off someone's thought processes. Why? Because I could be thinking about something very imp -" He faltered as he realized who he faced, and the downright shocked expression on the man's face, and he sighed wearily. "Ah. Father."

Aburame Shibi stepped forward swiftly, and he reached out almost hesitantly. "Son." For a brief moment Shino found himself in a stiff embrace, completely alien to both of them, before his father retreated again to a mutually comfortable distance. There was a long silence in which the two just stared. At last, Shibi spoke again. "...So. You have returned. I thought you might have..." He shook his head slowly. "The reason is, when I sensed the return of your team but failed to find your chakra among them, I grew restless."

"Ah," Shino noted dryly. "An understandable conclusion. Yet, as my presence indicates, I am alive," he said matter-of-factly. Then, he hesitated. "That said -"

"I can sense it. Your hive is _dead_," Shibi concluded. He sounded downright disturbed, and his hand clasped around Shino's shoulder. "This chakra, I recognize it from another time. It is unmistakable." He hissed under his breath. "The Jinchūriki did this?"

"No," Shino said with finality, and he shrugged off his father's grasp. "This is not Naruto's fault. In fact, he is probably the reason that I remain alive."

Shibi frowned. "Yet, your chakra has been corrupted," he noted. "The source of this corruption is unmistakably the corrosive and erratic chakra of a Tailed Beast. There is only one who could have a power such as this, so vile._ I was there, _Shino, when such chakra was unleashed upon our village."

"That may be true, but do not let it cloud your judgment. Haste is unhelpful." Shino raised his hand in a symbol for silent warning, and his father paused. "I will take your word for the state of my chakra system, since I cannot sense it as of yet. Why? Because my body has had to adapt to the new type quickly, while I was dying. My chakra sensory capabilities are stunted as a result, until I can adapt to the change. Still, I am alive."

"...What led to this regrettable situation?" Shibi wondered, eyes narrowed. "To come so very close to death that your hive suffers death, it is a rarity. Most would perish alongside."

Shino revealed his arm carefully, uncovering unblemished skin. It was pale and unmarked by the entrances of his kikaichi's nests, which would be expected there, and Shibi reacted with a predictable expression of shock.

"Yes. You see correctly. The Jinchūriki you refer to, Uzumaki Naruto, healed my body after it was damaged in a fight with a Missing-Nin. That battle happened several days before his team arrived, so I was bleeding out from what remained of my arm, and had lost most of my chakra in the interim. If there were still _kikaichi_ alive, I could not sense them." He grimaced. "Seeing no immediate alternative, and with no time to spare, Naruto employed a dangerous and forbidden technique. The Nine-Tails Chakra revived me from my near-death state, but it seared my chakra pathways. It will take time before I am once again capable of channeling chakra directly. The Medical-Nin agree, however, that I will recover."

"You were healed with the Kyūbi's chakra... The boy has such control?" Shibi murmured as he grasped Shino's arm curiously, his gaze hardening. "You are speaking of true regeneration, similar to that of Tsunade of the Sannin. Such a technique has not been seen in this village for a long time, and it is far beyond elementary use of a Bijū's chakra, as I understand it. Indeed, I would consider it _extremely _advanced." He frowned. "I was under the impression that the boy was untrained."

"Hmm. I know no differently. Nevertheless, I speak the truth about what occurred." He adjusted his glasses. "Naruto may have harmed me with his healing, but just as a side-effect of the chakra. The loss of my hive is... regrettable." He pressed his fist to his chest, sighing. "Still, there are worse fates. Perhaps a new hive can clear my system of the Bijū's chakra, while they adapt to my own chakra circulatory system; the very least we can do is attempt it. Alternatively, I may be able to adapt to the echo of the Kyūbi's chakra, and use it for myself. It would be a considerable advantage over most shinobi, who have little defense against such potency."

"I see," Shibi noted. "Can you explain the reason for your arm's... disability?"

Shino looked away uncomfortably. Truthfully, he had been very close to his demise as it was, since he could remember attempting to send a last message with what remained of his insects, followed by strange visions of a vast greenhouse, slowly degrading into a stale and unvisited museum, with only a lonely pool as a reminder of life. He had fashioned it a last border between life and death, and it effectively had been. There, he had at last met Naruto.

He gestured at his pale hand, and shrugged as if unconcerned. "The truth is that I was very nearly... decapitated by a Jōnin-class enemy, one who had the element of surprise on his side. The details are with the Hokage, of course. Though I created a clone before he was fully in range, the enemy seemed aware of my new position, and I just barely managed to divert his attack away from striking its target." He twitched his fingers, as if demonstrating that they all worked. "At that time, I lost my arm from nearly at the shoulder. The resulting hypovolemic shock and chakra imbalance sent me in and out of unconsciousness, and though my kikaichi attempted to rebuild my blood vessels and succeeded in clamping them down, they were doomed to ultimate failure. The wound was far too large."

"This was a powerful foe, then," Shibi said calmly. "On friendly soil."

"He was an A-rank Missing-Nin from the Bingo-Book, as I understand from Uchiha-san's description," Shino agreed. "After my downfall, the enemy nin continued to attack my team, and seemingly captured them all, though he left me for dead. Kiba-san and Hinata-san were kept aside, perhaps as a bargaining chip, while Kurenai-sensei was transported away towards the border. Team 7 came for us, to fulfill Kurenai-sensei's request for assistance from before the attack."

Shibi sighed as he shook his head. "Such luck... They found you, then?"

"Yes. Naruto healed me at that time, and retrieved Kurenai-sensei from the enemy. I understand that he and his teammates were also responsible for defeating the man who attacked my team." He pressed a hand against his shoulder and grimaced. "I presume he used the Kyūbi's chakra once again, given its power. Naruto was placed under arrest before I was capable of speaking to him again, and Kakashi-san brought him back to Konoha while unconscious. I imagine he is in some trouble due to his use of the Bijū's power."

"Hmm. Or because of other allegations," Shibi murmured contemplatively, peering at his son for a long time without saying anything. "I have heard many rumors about Uzumaki-san since even before his return, but _none _about your own survival." He cocked his head to the side. "It seems that your presence was once again ignored. A pity."

"It is a burden to bear," Shino agreed wearily.

"Indeed. Alternatively, it is possible that this lack of direct information was intentional." Shibi raised an eyebrow. "Your rescue at the hands of Uzumaki had not even reached my ears, and you are my _son._ It implies that someone is ensuring there are no leaks of information." He shook his head. "That boy has made powerful enemies, it seems."

"Maybe," Shino said softly. "Or perhaps someone is _helping_ Naruto. At a prospective trial, revelations such as healing the son of a Clan leader would be persuasive evidence, as long as the other side is ignorant of the matter so they can muster no solid defense." He cocked his head to the side. "Who would have the power to manipulate such matters?"

Shibi did not respond immediately, but he stiffened. "There is one thing I must admit, presently. If Uzumaki-san is indeed primarily responsible for your safety... It is my duty to give him a formal apology for past actions." He looked away. "Both my own, and those of others in our clan, in truth. I may have misjudged both his character and his work-ethic, judging from your clear respect for the boy, and his apparent gifts."

"Father?" Shino blinked in confusion. "You have never-"

"I have not. Not out loud. But that should not matter," Shibi interrupted, holding up a hand. "If Uzumaki-san is in trouble as you indicate, then he will certainly want a character witness before the Hokage. You will provide testimony of events that you experienced, of course." He nodded before his son could answer. "I believe I must contact old acquaintances. Shikaku-san would be interested in seeing justice done."

Shino refused to call it a smile, but the corners of his mouth turned up. "Thank you, Father."

* * *

Night turned to day in an instant. Naruto blinked wearily as his head lolled back and forth. He scrunched up his nose as he took in the stale air; it smelled like he was under a mile of rubble and sewage. He let out a disgusted noise, and was evidently heard.

"Tenzō-san, please prepare your Mokuton jutsu," a voice spoke clearly. "We cannot afford a... spectacle. Do not hesitate to subdue him if necessary."

Captain Yamato?! Naruto's sluggish brain caught up with him and recent events rushed back. Momentary panic overtook him as his meeting with Nagato sprang to the forefront of his mind, and the defeat of the Missing-Nin Muneyoshi. Both of those events were washed away by the realization that moments later, Kakashi had knocked him out from behind. A flash of betrayal forced itself up to him, even though he knew it was irrational, a bitter feeling that refused to leave.

He was back in Konoha, that was certain. That meant it would not be long before he was dragged in front of Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane, the Hokage's old team members and council. Maybe the Third himself would be there as well, without the customary warmth that Naruto remembered from another lifetime. Those people would have his fate in their hand. He had known that from the moment he had collapsed and found himself in front of Kurama's cage.

He was utterly screwed.

Still, despite the risk of getting into this much trouble, of getting his lying noticed properly for the first time since his return through time, Naruto refused to regret his actions. He didn't have a choice about that, really; he had done as he felt was right, and he'd have to reap the consequences either way. The easiest way to avoid everything now was to go full-on Missing-Nin, and he had no interest in that road. Self-recrimination was pointless when he tallied up his options.

At least Shino was recovering from his ordeal, Naruto thought with relief. Kurenai-sensei was also back in home territory now; he doubted that Nagato would break his promise so quickly. Team 8 had been rescued from the encounter they never should have had to face, and with no real losses. Whatever trouble he'd gotten himself into, he had made up for his mistake.

Kurama had so confidently stated that things would just get worse, that Naruto's meddling would destroy the balance of time and other such things, as if it could be broken so easily. Instead, Naruto had made contact with Nagato without any true violence, Team 8 remained alive, and Muneyoshi was in captivity. In another world he had died with all his secrets. Naruto might not have beaten everything, come out on top, but at the very least he had broken even.

_Hah! Take that, you overgrown fox!_

"Well, well, Uzumaki," the baritone voice of Ibiki began, and Naruto only then recognized him in the dim light, his eyes gleaming from the shadows. As he tried to move, he found himself strapped down to a table that was raised at an angle, his arms and legs secured with solid leather and metal to the hardwood back. The room was utterly featureless and drab grey, making it was hard to gauge distance since there was nothing to distinguish floor from wall, but far up at the roof, pipes ran every which way. They betrayed this location as being somewhere in the depths of the village, as his nose had already told him.

_That doesn__'__t make sense__... T__he T&I department is in the Hokage__'__s tow- _Naruto hissed suddenly as pain rushed up his spine, and he groaned in momentary agony. A surge of sparks burst down his back, and perfect blankness took over as everything seemed to just _stop_. His thoughts fluttered away.

Ibiki stared down at his victim contemplatively, before nodding in mock-respect as Naruto gathered himself, his expression fiercer than before. Naruto winced as another stab of discomfort spread across his throbbing head; he had an absolutely blinding headache that seemed ready to spring on him at the slightest provocation, and it was a chore to avoid showing his weakness openly.

"You know why you are here, I trust," Ibiki stated dryly, gesturing to Captain Yamato. "Tenzō-san will remain nearby, as he is able use the First Hokage's Mokuton jutsu, and is thus capable of subduing the beast that was sealed within you. He can hold you for the duration it would take to end your life. Do you understand?"

Naruto gave a wry nod. He rather doubted that Konoha authorities would kill him, unless he went nuts and ripped the seal open right in front of them or something. Having a demon-host around was an important factor in discouraging other nations from trying anything too fancy; none of the Kages were fooled into thinking that the Kyūbi had simply vanished after the attack on Konoha. It was one reason why Orochimaru's plan at the Chūnin Exams had depended so heavily on Gaara's presence. There were few more dangerous foes in this world than a raging Tailed Beast.

Naruto met Ibiki's eyes easily. "Yeah, I know why I'm here. What's the charge?" he asked, trying to ignore the pain that flashed through his scalp.

There was a glint of what could have been victory in Ibiki's eyes, but it was gone almost instantly, drowned out by a cold and eerie blankness. "There are several. Treason. Conspiring with the enemy. Providing information to forces outside the village without proper authorization. Not that it matters, as the usual punishment for treason is death."

"Fun times," Naruto muttered sarcastically. "Unless you're going to assassinate me right here, I suppose the old bats want to see me. When will that be?" He wondered momentarily why he was being so rude, but the thought fluttered away as did the others. Why was that, anyway? It hardly mattered.

Ibiki was evidently surprised by Naruto's candidness, as he paused. "Hm. Attempting to interrogate me in turn, are you? It is true that recent intelligence suggests you are less... naïve than you appeared to be. It is a dangerous revelation." He looked terrifying for a split second, a disapproving frown etched on his face, and Naruto was mildly impressed by the menace the Jōnin managed to exude without even a whiff of Killing Intent. "In fact, one could almost think that this moment is one you _expected._"

Naruto snorted. "Heh. Thank you for the compliment, I suppose," he said dryly, forcing himself to ignore his racing heart. "It's neat to hear someone like you would ascribe such cunning to a lowly _Genin._" Then, very childishly, he stuck out his tongue, knowing it would annoy the Jōnin to no end. One part of him was horrified by his lax attitude, while another was laughing.

Ibiki sneered. "Such hubris. Do you even understand where you are, _boy_? This is the Konoha ANBU Torture and Interrogation Force, and you will find that we are _the best_ at what we do. Your flippant attitude will be corrected_._"

"You think I'll believe that? You wouldn't do anything drastic without the Hokage's permission, and he's not about to give it without seeing me in person. I think I know him well enough for that. Scare tactics only work when the threat is _likely._" Naruto rolled his eyes. "What's next, you're going to threaten to chop off my fingers? I'm sure it's a good way to get Kyūbi antsy, but they would just grow back, and I can handle pain. It'd be pointless."

Ibiki paced, staying silent for a long moment. "You believe you are invulnerable, don't you?" he asked at last. "You are... _lucky_, Uzumaki. I do not tolerate disloyalty, but I do not like to waste potential either." He cocked his head to the side, his eyes glinting. "Since the day of your graduation, there have been great concerns over your loyalty, as you must know. You have been seen slipping out late at night to do whatever subversive thing you desire. Thus far, your status as demon-host has protected you from ramifications of your actions." He shook his head. "Until now, there was hardly enough public information to convict you, or you would have long since been put away."

Naruto shivered at the knowing smile on Ibiki's face that looked entirely wrong there. No compassion shone in those eyes, nor the slightest hesitancy. How much did Ibiki know, about everything? Perhaps even the events in Suna had been discovered? Manipulating the Kazekage into a truce via an assumed identity made a foray into Rain look like child's play. The thought of the Third tossing him into some deep, dank hole seemed disturbingly reasonable now - the old man had done worse things for the sake of peace.

The Torture Specialist nodded lightly towards Tenzō, who crossed his hands and closed his eyes; trees sprang from the floor at the slightest movement of the man's fingers, bursting up from unseen seams and entangling Naruto's legs and arms. The Wood Element user's chakra was pervasive throughout the newly formed branches, and a few errant leaves sprouted on their own as the wood strained itself into a form-fitting prison. Naruto felt Kurama's chakra dwindle away within him, and if not for his extensive experience with the fox's power, he would have lost all control over it at that moment.

"You have been accused of treason," Ibiki said again. "What do you have to say to this charge?"

"It's nonsense, of course. I'm _not _a traitor." Naruto's rude disinterest made way for a sort of wordless rage that pooled in the bottom of his stomach, though Kurama had nothing to do with it. The blatant accusation of disloyalty set his teeth on edge, wiping out his reason with an emotional outburst that seemed uncommonly vicious. Had Ibiki slipped him something to make him talk, to make him emotionally unstable? Or was he that messed up from meeting his other self, from realizing he was the embodiment of his own darkness?

Probably the latter, Naruto realized with a disquieting finality. His loyalty to Konoha was the one thing that had never wavered even a little, not even through years of harsh life at the forefront of the worst that shinobi did. He was well aware he was not a good person by any stretch;'he was an experienced shinobi, and very few could fill that role and retain a moral high-ground. He was a liar, a thief, a lawbreaker on occasion, a murderer, and perhaps a bit insane to top it all off, but if there was one thing he had _never_ been, would never be, _could never be,_ it was a _traitor. _That truth was sealed the day he had taken down Sasuke in his first life.

"Hmm, you say you are no traitor, and you are telling the truth. The truth as you see it," Ibiki noted with a glint in his eye, and Naruto refused to meet his gaze again. "That is interesting, very interesting. Treachery is _subjective_, perhaps? Most would argue that betrayal of the Hokage's orders constitutes treason in itself, as the Hokage stands for the village. You crossed into the land of Rain, and made contact with natives of that country to retrieve a kidnapped colleague. Those actions were _well _outside your mission brief. Worse still, outside the express orders of the Hokage."

"I was made the team's _leader_," Naruto forced out, remembering that short moment when Kakashi had deferred to him over Shino's dying body. That brief instant, Kakashi had truly obeyed his orders, no matter the danger involved. That is why he could not truly be resentful of the man, because clearly the seeds of trust were there. "I did what I thought was right," Naruto continued. "A team leader is allowed to extend his mandate if he believes it to be safe to do so. Out of the team, I was the only one who could do so without a risk of capture by a third party. To inform the others would be useless, and would endanger my success."

"Hmmm." Ibiki pursed his lips as he stared into Naruto's eyes with clear suspicion. "Going above and beyond your assigned duty may be an admirable sentiment in many situations, but you were assigned as a team leader in a _provisional _capacity, at Hatake-san's whim. You were never truly the team's real leader."

"That was hardly made clear to me," Naruto snapped. "Even when it became clear that the mission was more than a C-rank, Kakashi-sensei allowed me to continue. He believed I could do it. I _did _do it."

The interrogator cocked his head to the side, and Naruto felt scrutinized by eyes far more devious than Ibiki's had ever been. A creeping doubt began to sneak into Naruto's mind, an uneasy feeling of _wrongness, _and without conscious thought he grasped onto that feeling, that sudden realization that was on the tip of his tongue but refused to spill out_. _He recognized it, even if he didn't quite know from where. He forcefully squashed the flashes down his spine, the spiky claws that seemed to have been driven into the back of his neck, and he focused on driving back the oncoming tide of thoughtlessness. Miraculous he managed to avoid showing much of his discomfort on his face, masking it as indignation.

"You know the truth, don't you? I was the reason that the mission was a success at all! I am the reason that Kurenai-sensei survived!" Naruto blurted, the pain down his back slowly fading. "Doesn't that count for _something_?"

Ibiki sniffed. "Your teacher made a questionable decision regarding the internal structure of your team, but you were _never _authorized to reveal anything to foreign forces, and that is the same whether you are a Genin or Jōnin. Success of what amounted to an A-rank mission is admirable, but besides the point."

"Is it?" Naruto asked harshly. "So, a few clones hopped across the border, that's what all this mess is about, right? Just that? Is that truly enough to make you consider the kinds of punishments you mentioned?" Naruto closed his eyes and considered the _wrongness _that echoed inside his head, the pain that continued to pulsate in the back of his mind.

_Genjutsu! _

The realization clicked almost audibly, and his breath hitched. Kurama was snoozing on the inside from Tenzō's technique, and Naruto had no way to easily hurt himself right now, to cut himself free from the technique that was weaving itself in between his thoughts. For once, he wished that he was good at breaking illusions without breaking his own knuckles.

Ibiki's eyes were empty of feeling as he beheld Naruto's struggle. "Hatake-san informed the Hokage that your _Kage Bunshin_ travelled in an organized fashion. They were headed directly for the capital of Rain country at the time he noticed their covert movement. Two hours later, an unknown kunoichi was spotted traversing the border with Konoha to deliver Jōnin-sensei Yūhi Kurenai. These events are doubtlessly connected."

"Yeah. That's true. I went after Kurenai-sensei," Naruto admitted, eyes narrowing as he studied his captor's face, his head pounding to the beat of his heart. "I got her back. That's what the mission was all about, helping Team 8. We _succeeded_. Yes, it's illegal to cross borders, but that's implied to mean _without permission._" He noted ruefully to himself that Nagato's acceptance of his presence was mostly after-the-fact, since the leader of Rain had not actually met his distant cousin until Naruto had stepped out into the rain. It didn't matter. He had acted with Konoha's best interest in mind, and even if it was a twisted sort of truth, calling upon the spirit of another timeline, it was better than a blatant lie as he was so used to telling.

"You got _permission_, then? From who, I wonder?" Ibiki inquired calmly.

"From Nagato, of course," Naruto said at last, and he took in Ibiki's briefly perplexed expression with interest. The back of his mind itched incessantly, scraping at the Genjutsu even as awareness of it threatened to slip away.

"_Nagato_, you say...?" Ibiki repeated softly.

Naruto nodded forcefully. "_Uzumaki_ Nagato, the current leader of Ame. Everyone in Team 7 was fighting or keeping an eye out on the rescued members of Team 8, and Kurenai had been taken away, kidnapped. I figured I could multi-task, seeing as I have a talent for the _Kage Bunshin_, and they could slip away. I called in a favor with Nagato, since we're family. I didn't think -"

"You certainly did not _think,_" Ibiki agreed harshly. If Naruto's words had any meaning to Ibiki, the man's expression betrayed none of it. "You are close acquaintances with this _Nagato_, leader of Rain country, a nation that has been less than hospitable in years past. We have stood upon the brink of war, even. Are you alluding to being a genuine _spy, _sneaky little Genin?"

Naruto let out a strangled laugh that held no humor in it, and his eyes were like daggers. "I already told you I'm not a traitor. I would never spy on Konoha." His indignant rage rose up again from just below the surface. "Nagato and I, we're _family_. We share a history, a legacy that is treasured by this village to the present day, that is worn upon the very clothes you wear. That _bastard _Muneyoshi smuggled Kurenai-sensei into Nagato's territory, and was provoking conflict. I did what I did for the sake of Konoha, and to prevent war. I asked Nagato to release her, as an offering of peace." He shrugged lightly. "You can call it acting without good foresight, or inexperience, and you can even kill me over it if you can convince the Hokage. But _don__'__t _question my loyalty again."

For a moment, the strange expression on Ibiki's face made sense, then it twisted, and Naruto's insides revolted violently. His head spun as his mind warred with itself over the acceptance of reality as it was, and against the illusion that was suffusing everything. Naruto seemed to teeter on some endless cliff, his resistance crumbling away, and he found himself in freefall. From somewhere deep inside, there came a surge of power, and pain. _ Pain and terror and anguish and the knowledge that one is a passenger on a ship that__'__s headed for destruction, a spectator in one__'__s own mind, unable to touch the world. _

The Genjutsu shattered, errant thoughts stopped whirling wildly in his every direction as the world settled down. The illusion's hold had been destroyed by two wills, strong in very different ways. Two very different minds behind the same eyes. Two minds that at that moment shared the exact same thought.

Naruto looked up swiftly, and took in his interrogator's face with no real surprise, though considerable apprehension. The man was not Ibiki, as the Genjutsu had been telling him quite insistently, as it had forcefully proclaimed in between his every thought.

"That was a tricky one," Naruto murmured, and he was gratified to note the momentary surprise in the bastard's visible eye. The other was covered in bandages, though they were ruffled from repeated removal. "I should have known it would be your doing, Shimura Danzō." He stared at the leader of Root with narrowed eyes, and he did nothing to conceal his annoyance, even though the Genjutsu that had been affecting his actions had worn off. He was still angry, and the pit of fire in his belly refused to simmer down at this new face. If anything, it burned brighter. _Danzō. It had to be you, again._

The bandaged spymaster leaned on his staff with one hand, the other brushing distractedly against the bandages that covered his stolen Sharingan. His one-eyed gaze was piercing in its intensity, far more disturbing than Kakashi's could ever be, though it held no real malice, which Naruto had expected there. No, there was a certain amusement there, perhaps even a gleam of interest, which was all the more disturbing. "So, young Genin. You know my name. I suppose I should not be surprised at this juncture."

Shimura Danzō was familiar alright; Naruto was uncomfortably aware of this man's exploits, and he well remembered what happened the last time around, when Danzō had snatched the Hokage seat after Tsunade's collapse, in the wake of Nagato's attack. He also knew how dysfunctional Sai had been after his messed-up training under this person, and how many others had suffered the same terrible treatment. Even though the two of them had met but a few times, the impression Danzō had left behind in Naruto's mind was one of bitterness and disgust, of someone who held onto old ideals no matter how impractical they were.

And yet, Naruto thought uneasily, the really disturbing thing was that he could _understand _Danzō now, more than ever before. He could hardly respect his methods, since they were crude and ultimately ineffectual; there was nothing about training Root to be emotionless automatons, or forcing them into subjugation with seals, that he could tolerate as necessary or helpful. But, as Kakashi would put it, there was always underneath the underneath. Below all the political grandstanding and manipulation had to beat the heart of a true shinobi, or the Third would never have respected him at all. Down deep below the grime he had to be made of adamant, like the old man.

_Look at me now, empathizing with Danzō, feeling sorry for someone like that__. I__f that doesn__'__t tell me how screwed up I am, what the heck will? _He frowned. _Or maybe..._

On some level, Naruto knew that the man before him had stepped onto the road he walked to protect the village, to protect Konoha, or at the very least to further the ideal that the Shodai Hokage had sought to bring into being. Danzō certainly believed that what he had done was for the greater good of Konoha, even if he was completely wrong on that count, even if his way of protecting the village led to its destruction. Perhaps, in the grand scheme, Danzō was as much an example of a wrongly taken path as Nagato was, or Obito for that matter. Another way that he himself could have been, given different choices. Perhaps, in some ways, he _was _what Naruto had become. A knife in the shadows, merciless and blind to consequences beyond the immediate.

And a coward in a hero's clothing.

"You are so silent, now. Perhaps you have finally realized your plight?" Danzō asked as he glanced to his side, and he made a quick hand sign. Captain Yamato - Tenzō - perked up, and then inclined his head warily before he stepped to the side of the room, vanishing through an invisible doorway. Danzō and Naruto alike listened as the sound of his footsteps vanished down the hall. Then Naruto's clear blue met the half-lidded dark gaze of Danzō's single eye.

"Why'd you send him away?" Naruto asked, swallowing thickly, refusing to meet Danzō's eye.

"He was unnecessary. This wood will last." Danzō hesitated momentarily, but did not reveal his Sharingan as Naruto suspected was his intent by removing the last witness. Instead, there was a long, long silence. Just as Naruto was about to make an annoyed remark, the old man spoke again, sounding tired. "I knew about your nature, of course. I knew of your plight as a Jinchūriki, ever since you were a child." He paused for a long moment. "Naturally, I had you watched for several long years, had you followed through every day of your young life, but I admit that I gave up on you. It became clear to me that you showed no particular affinity for the shinobi arts, nor any inclination that you were going to be any more than a loudmouth. You seemed hopeless. My actions were premature, in retrospect."

Naruto stared at Danzō with genuine bafflement. He had been watched by _Root_, even during his childhood, during those long dark years when he had been little more than a pest to everyone around him, too big to ignore, too little to be a prankster? Even in the original timeline it had to have happened, he imagined, if Danzō's words were true. _And he was totally right about me__, __the first time around._

Danzō smiled thinly, though his eyes were as sharp as ever. "I see that you understand. I forgot about your presence, until the day before your third consecutive Genin exam. You made a mistake. Your facade crumbled. It was surely not the first mistake you had made, but it was the first that was witnessed by one of my... associates." He paused. "There was a problem building in a neighboring country, though it had not yet become bad enough to interfere without real risk to our forces, in case our intel was faulty. I had in fact planned to slip the issue into the usual missions, ostensibly as an anonymous tip. To my surprise, someone _else _took the initiative."

He knew about Gatō. _Fuck_.

"Yes, I see that you know what I mean. Assassination at your age is not unprecedented, but for an academy student without even the slightest excuse for orders it was most definitely peculiar," Danzō continued, still with that strange smile. "It quickly became apparent that the victim was guilty of considerably more than I expected, which implied that you were quite diligent in your research. The fool was making in-roads with high-rank Missing-Nin and lowlifes, and could have been quite the _hassle _in the future_._"

Naruto stayed his tongue, trying to find out Danzō's purpose in bringing these things up. The interrogation about his visit to Ame had taken a sudden backseat to this line of inquiry, which implied that it might just be far more important. But there was nothing about Gatō's demise that could honestly make things worse for him, since he was already standing on the block for treason. So what was going on? Why mention Gatō at all? What was Danzō's game here?

Regardless of their political impact, the discovery of Gatō's death was troubling, of course. That man's terrible reign was the very first thing that Naruto had set out to fix upon returning, and he had been spotted right away, detected on his very first outing. Naruto would have laughed if it didn't imply numerous uncomfortable truths. It meant he had been wildly overconfident in his abilities to remain undetected; not only had the Hokage discovered his theft of scrolls from the tower, which could be attributed to the Sandaime's incredible skill, but now _Root_ had been snooping on him too? He had gone for assassination right away, and of a relatively minor player in the grand scheme, and had managed to even screw _that _up.

_I was just doing what I knew. _Naruto swallowed thickly as he realized that he had been acting the way he had drilled into himself, like a machine. _Years and years of assassination and infiltration and solving problems through death and deception. When the hell did I get this arrogant, this overconfident?_ _Now I__'__ve got the personality of a veteran killer without the body or skills to truly back it up, to make up for my hubris... Perhaps this is a level of stupidity and short-sightedness that not even my child self could have reached..._

"You imagined yourself undetected?" Danzō noted. "That is... amusing. In the wake of those events, I had you followed again. Your efficiency suggested that I had miscalculated your ability and drive." He shifted his bandages, his expression unchanging. "It is true that a Jinchūriki who murders at a whim is a known risk. At first I imagined you were like the holder of Shukaku, who found a violent outlet for his more savage urges. But this murder was too planned, too intentional. Then, of course, came that excuse for a teacher."

It was no surprise he knew about Mizuki, now. Naruto was just disturbed that he had never picked up on anyone spying on him while he was out and about like that. He would need to improve his awareness, or Danzō's Root were a _lot _better than he remembered. Gatō, Mizuki, had anything he did slipped by this man? He had been deceiving himself all along, believing his web of lies to remain intact even as it grew larger, while it had been cut from its branch from the very beginning. Far more than his overestimation of his own ability and his twisted sense of right and wrong, so recently adjusted to something more reasonable, it was clear that his arrogance knew no bounds, and it was blinding him to his limitations.

_No wonder Kurama was disgusted with me..._

"I admit, you had acceptable reasons for your actions," Danzō continued with a creepy, knowing smirk on his face, clearly unaware of Naruto's internal struggle. "The execution was quick, unflinching. It betrayed experience in the art of silent killing. Prodigies such as Uchiha Itachi and Hatake Kakashi are commonly expected to begin so young, and they had considerable training." He turned slightly, eyes gleaming. "Your information gathering regarding this person was also remarkable. I had not yet made the connection you clearly did, most likely due to your increased access to him in and around the classroom."

"He was working for Orochimaru."

"Indeed. You have already put the Hokage and his ANBU operatives on the trail of another spy from that Sannin, hiding in plain sight, though you were rather ham-fisted in the way you excused your knowledge, there. This person is one that I have some... history with. He is now in custody." Danzō walked closer to Naruto and put a hand on Tenzō's wooden prison. "You are aware of your heritage. Indeed, you have been following in _their _footsteps, perhaps more so than expected. You have your mother's regrettable lack of patience, but a considerable amount of your father's talent. Including a disturbing penchant for deception. I am, quite frankly, impressed."

Naruto met Danzō's eyes with barely disguised incredulity. "Um, thanks?" _Getting compliments from this creep is kind of disturbing..._

"Hmm. You're still a brat." Danzō shook his head. "In a few hours, you will be called before the council members and the Hokage, to face the charge of treason. You have become a danger in their eyes, a liability. Even the Hokage, so tolerant of your actions thus far, has begun to doubt your intentions, your loyalty. You will require my aid to make it out of these proceedings."

So, that was the rub, then. It made sense. Danzō wanted Konoha's Jinchūriki under his private control, now that it turned out he wasn't an untalented blot of orange, now that it was clear that a talented, but overconfident shinobi was hiding in the rough. Instead of listening to the Hokage, Danzō preferred that such a person danced to his tune, and he had no doubt that it would not be long before something like Sai's seal or Uchiha Shisui's Sharingan would be used to force him to tell Danzō everything he knew. It was not an option.

"I'm not joining your Root club, Danzō," he said at last.

"Perhaps not. That road is closed to both of us," Danzō answered. He seemed unsurprised about Naruto's knowledge of his secret organization, and smiled at the Genin's expression. "Ah, you were out of the village, that is right. Root is no longer under my control. I voluntarily relinquished control over their care to that bothersome Sannin. It was quite a public spectacle."

Naruto blinked. "You did _what_?"

"You are hardly deaf," Danzō said blandly, smile slipping. Naruto was not sure what to make of this bizarre revelation, one that had no counterpart in his memories. "There is something I would like you to clarify. You prefer the way of subterfuge when it comes to certain matters, that is obvious. You chose infiltration followed by assassination or theft, rather than bursting in as your public persona. Yet, in recent times and especially in this mission, you were careless."

Naruto kept his mouth firmly closed.

"It seems clear that you could have slipped into Ame unnoticed, yet you did not. Perhaps you _wished _to be caught?" Danzō nodded to himself. "You miscalculated the severity of your actions. In the worst case, we reseal the Kyūbi into someone else, and that would kill you. You will _need _my assistance, as I said. If only to reduce your sentence enough that the Hokage will just be forced to restrict some of your freedoms, but no more than that. I am not an unkind master to serve."

Naruto scoffed. "Heh, you'd _reseal _it?" he repeated, and he smiled knowingly. "Are you prepared to die to do so, Danzō-san? Do you think it would be any easier than last time, hmm? Do you have an Uzumaki to spare? It is a family tradition for more than sentimental reasons, you Fox would reform without a host, and it would tear this place apart, leaving mere ashes."

Danzō scowled. "Is that a threat?"

"Yeah, I'm totally going to destroy my home," Naruto muttered sarcastically. "You know that the punishments for treason would never work on someone like me, so nobody will be stupid enough to try anyway. Killing me would just hurt the village. Sealing my chakra is useless too, since even if you got Jiraiya-sensei to do it, I still know a trick or two myself. I'd break myself out within the week, or the fox would supercharge it and erode the seal away even if I couldn't."

"For a supposedly _loyal_ shinobi, you're talking an awful lot like a criminal," Danzō said darkly.

"I am loyal. I would give my life for this village." Naruto said confidently. "Believe me, that won't ever change. If I wasn't loyal, do you honestly think I'd still be here? Do you think that I would have tolerated the appalling behavior of the civilians if I was not willing to look past it and see the goodness in them, too? Do you think I could have fought for this village at all, if I didn't keep it safely in my heart?"

Danzō shook his head. "You are still a loudmouth."

"Maybe. But still, I would _never_ tell people about Konoha's weaknesses, or about any of my friends, or their secret jutsu, or anything remotely like that at all. My first loyalty is always to the village." He raised an eyebrow. "I figured _you _of all people would understand that."

"Hmm." The man paced around the wooden prison impatiently. "Why should I believe such bold words from a _liar? _How would you prove your loyalty?"

Naruto's eyes caught Danzō's at last, and they bled blood-red, their pupils thin and vicious. The lines on his cheeks seemed gouged into his skin and his teeth were razor-like fangs. Danzō froze as an incredibly potent Killing Intent flooded the room, licking at the air around the wooden prison with relish. "Isn't it obvious? Understand this, Danzō-san: If I went all-out, I could rip everything to shreds._ Everything. _That is the power of a Bijū."

"Stop," Danzō hissed, revealing his Sharingan eye. Tenzō rushed back into the room, holding at the door as the wooden prison tightened, though it had hardly any effect on the corrosive chakra of the Kyūbi which was eating through it swiftly.

"Shimura-san!" Captain Yamato barked worriedly.

"The Hokage told you I could manage one or two tails, I'm sure," Naruto snarled viciously, his nails digging into his skin and disrupting whatever illusion Danzō attempted to place. It was not a strong one; the man was not desperate yet. "That was true, at the time. I trained, I got better at this. This last mission was productive, it jarred the door a bit. Four is how many I can keep under control when I'm well-rested, and I _just_ woke up from a three-day nap. If I set the beast free, all of it, it would raze the village. Do you understand?"

Naruto smiled for a final moment at the terror he spread, then he let the fox's chakra go. it vanished as soon as it appeared, leaving just a few branches to hold down his legs and arms; all the rest were gone, burned away by the power. Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Of course, I won't actually do something like that. I could, but I won't, and I haven't ever done so. If _that _is not a show of loyalty in the face of how people here treat me, then I don't know what is."

"Are you _trying _to get your throat slit?" Danzō grasped a kunai tightly, knuckles white. "The Hokage certainly sensed that outburst. Are you so unstable, that you would so casually risk yourself for a petty intimidation tactic?"

"I'm not the Hokage's enemy. He has no reason to worry," Naruto said, and he smiled dangerously at Danzō. "Quite the contrary, in fact. I've offered myself as the Hokage's weapon, and suggested that he use my talents as a Jinchūriki where they are most useful. He seems unwilling to take that particular offer, but I cannot change what I am any more than you can. Do _you _understand, Danzō-san?"

_It may be my nature to be a weapon__, __but I would never let _you _wield it._

There was a long, long silence. Suddenly there was a swift movement that broke the tense pause. Danzō's kunai sank deeply into Naruto's upper arm, cutting through wood, severing muscles and scratching past bone as it reached the other side, pinning the limb to the table as blood leaked out from the branches, and sprouts erupted with red leaves. Pain rushed up the nerves and Naruto almost screamed, but he caught himself at the last moment, as the first moment of agony quickly dulled due to Kurama's presence. He looked down at the wound, and the edges were already closing around the metal of the knife. "You sure are touchy..."

"You will _never _threaten the village again." Danzō noted, his eyes betraying a cold hate, and Naruto was not sure what had inspired it. He doubted Danzō was upset about the potential damage to the village, just to his precious plans. As the man stepped out of the room, he glanced back one last time, grimacing darkly. "Foolish boy."

"Threatening the _village_, eh? Nah, I'll settle for threatening _you._" Though Naruto briefly strained to hear a response as Danzō vanished down the corridor, none came. His eyes slipped closed as he succumbed to exhaustion from his use of the fox's chakra, straight through Captain Yamato's technique. Still, a small smile played around the corners of his mouth. It didn't matter what happened, now, since he had already eliminated any likelihood that Danzō would want him; he had no need for an unstable vessel.

Whatever would come, he'd deal with. _I'm not gonna run away and I never go back on my word, that is my nindō! _

Across town, in the Hokage Tower, the Third sat back from his shining crystal sphere, and he turned to his neighbor with a troubled expression. Shikaku Nara kept watching with narrowed eyes, nodding to himself. Across from him, Jiraiya's mouth had fallen open, and it refused to close for a long, long time.

* * *

Naruto smiled as he blinked awake again; there had been a _good_ dream for once, a memory from a long time ago. It was the first in a long, long time. He and Jiraiya had been out among the people of a quaint gambling town, and he had begged the old perv for new techniques, while the latter visited every seedy bar along the way.

The super-pervert had been less than pleased when Naruto had snuck in after him, when he stayed gone for rather a long time, and found him in bed with three rather voluptuous women. Before his teacher had managed a coherent thought and taken a swing at him, Naruto had rushed out of that place so quickly that he had inadvertently destroyed three doors and a wall on his way to the pavement. Then he had stopped and admitted reluctantly that, yeah, he was jealous of the old bastard.

That was the day he had finally given up on denying that he, Uzumaki Naruto, was a pervert as well. Honestly, he had never been given a fair chance, as the student of both Kakashi _and _Jiraiya. He idly wondered if his father had anything to do with all of it, as the teacher and student respectively of those two people. Did he stash copies of Icha Icha inside that voluminous cloak of his? He couldn't stop a goofy grin from erupting as he imagined that. He knew where the dream had to have come from, and his smile refused to budge.

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, and was taken aback by Jiraiya, looming over him with an expression that promised the same kind of wrath as he had promised on that day, but with none of the humor, none of the joking nudge and twinkle in the eye that he was familiar with. It made him uncomfortably aware that this was _another _Jiraiya. One that had barely been his teacher for more than a week or two, though it felt longer.

"You're an idiot." the man stated dryly, his tone calm even as his eyes bored holes into him. "A complete buffoon."

Naruto jerked upright in his chair, a different one from before, and realized that it lacked all the chains and wood to keep him down; he was in fact completely free. He had to have been moved sometime after he fell asleep, as his shoulder only ached slightly. Several hours, then, at the very least. "I've been told that before," he murmured at last, rubbing his shoulder as he stretched his cramped legs. Then, before he could think twice about it, he sunk his fingers directly into the healing wound with a single, sharp jab. The instant of furious pain almost made him collapse off his chair, but the room remained the same, and the person before him did not waver.

Jiraiya's expression became rather disturbed. "...Yeah, that's definitely not helping the case for sanity," he said with an appalled glance at the thin trickle of blood that dripped down Naruto's fingers.

The Genin wiped them off against his jacket distractedly. "Fool me twice..." he muttered. He narrowed his eyes after a moment, any evidence of pain evaporating as he straightened. "So... are you my next interrogator, sensei? I'm sure you know all about the things I told Danzō-san, before and after his Genjutsu. First was the stick, then the carrot." He lifted his chin. "Are you going to be the blade that cuts the stem, then?"

"Naruto..." Jiraiya said with a little resignation, his expression tinged with worry. "You must know you threatened a very power individual, one that has considerable influence even among shinobi, let alone the civilian sector. In fact, quite a lot of people sensed your use of the Kyūbi's chakra, and fear that the creature may be breaking loose. I know it's not true, but you are in enough trouble as it is to add more to the list of offenses." He shook his head. "Shimura Danzō will not let this matter lie. What he wants, he tends to get. Unfortunately, that is the way of things."

Naruto shrugged. "I know. Danzō's dangerous, but I had to show him that he can't push me around. I had to show him that his ace in the hole was useless against me. I did that in the easiest way I knew. If he thinks I can snap at any moment, or that I'm as ruthless as he is, he would never dare try to control me like his puppet. He could never trust me." He frowned. "On that note, he said you control Root now?"

"...I do. I admit that I am unsure about Danzō's motives."

"I'm not," Naruto responded blandly. "He's picking his battles, and I think he realized that a pre-academy Genin just did half the things his Root were meant to do, and a lot more efficiently. He knows that having me as a pawn is infinitely more useful than a hundred emotionless murder machines that have a habit of getting themselves killed." He smirked. "And that's even _without _the Kyūbi, you know! What a prize to have: the son of the Yellow Flash, a prodigy, and the holder of the mightiest of the Tailed Beasts! Oh, Danzō's playing it smart. A lot smarter than I'd anticipated. I figured it would take him much longer to move."

Jiraiya shifted uneasily. "You speak as if you've got decades of experience, but you are no more than a Genin," he said. "Or at least you display far more knowledge about the seedier side of the shinobi world than anyone I've ever met at your rank, sans _one_. There was one other prodigy like that." His eyes narrowed, and Killing Intent was unmistakable as he did so.

Naruto stared, his mouth suddenly dry. "Sensei?"

"You know who I'm talking about," Jiraiya said, almost whispering, and he lay his hand calmly on the side of his vest, and a seal flared to life with a burst of chakra. As he did so, the Killing Intent seemed to spike, and Naruto felt short of breath. "Tell me, Naruto. How is it that, while I was travelling across the Land of Fire to return to Konoha by the Sandaime's request, I _also _managed to visit the village of Sunagakure at the same time?" Naruto grimaced involuntarily. "How is it that I walked into that place, stopped a war that hardly anyone knew was brewing, not even me, and came back out with a _Jinchūriki _in tow?"

Naruto didn't have to say anything, his pallor said enough.

Jiraiya inclined his head. "Yes. I know it was you, Naruto. The coincidence of your disappearance from the village and the simultaneous events in Suna are damning enough, but then you brought in the Suna Jinchūriki with a nonsense story. All this, after the events that Danzō so helpfully documented." The Sannin's eyes were like burning coals, now. "I can even see _why _you did it, in a way. To divert a war, and to save someone like yourself. Those are admirable goals. But even then, you avoided the chain of command. At first because you weren't in it, and then I imagine it turned into a personal quest. Something far beyond simple village politics."

"Sens-" Naruto started, but Jiraiya's glare silenced him instantly.

"There is another person in this world who was like you. He was a genius without comparison in this village, who perfected many techniques of deception and stealth before he was old enough to join a Genin team, who showed his capability before he was ever asked to. He saw the imbalance in the world, and the opportunities, and he set out to exploit them to his own ends, as you did." He shook his head. "In the end, the Hokage became a nuisance that stood in the way of his goals, his greatness."

"Orochimaru," Naruto whispered, shivering. "I'm nothing like that sick freak!"

"Perhaps not _that _much." Jiraiya's smile was momentary, and his eyes never defrosted. "Still, you have acted as he did, and you share much of his nature. I wished to give you the benefit of the doubt. That is why I granted you the tool for perfect privacy, the Uzumaki sealing style. That was before I realized just what I had been missing. You have _his_ disrespect for authority. This latest incident in Rain is but one example." Jiraiya's eyes seemed unusually shiny. "You spoke to Nagato himself, I understand."

"Yes... He and Konan are alive. They were your students, weren't they?" Naruto asked, knowing the answer. "I thought that I could reason with Nagato, that it was _safe._ And it was, since we spoke, and we made a deal. No secrets of the village, or any such rot. Just... something far more personal." He looked away. "Do you believe me, when I say I am loyal to the village, sensei?"

There was a long silence. Finally, Jiraiya spoke again. "I do. For now."

Naruto nodded slowly. "Hmm. You can compare me to Orochimaru, but there have been others that have compared me to other people. Kakashi-sensei sees my father in me, I'm sure, and his old teammate, Obito, when I'm being goofy. Sasuke imagines his brother, as he was before the disaster, he all but admitted it. The old man and you, I guess you see Orochimaru. Nagato -" He sighed. "Well, he once told me that he saw himself in me."

"And you? What do you see?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "It's true that I share things with all those people, In some degree or another. I'm sure that in the right circumstances, you would see Danzō in me, or perhaps even the Sage of the Six Paths." He winked. "Bit much? Yeah, I thought so too. Truth is, I'm just the Leaf's Uzumaki Naruto, the number one most surprising knuckleheaded ninja, and that's who I want to be. And the Hokage, if possible."

"You know that the Hokage is listening," Jiraiya said pensively, the Killing Intent fading from the air. "Though I can sympathize with your position, I must point out that you went against orders. That you quite willfully crossed a line. I doubt you would end up on the chopping block, for the reasons you mentioned, and others, but you will face judgment."

Naruto hung his head. "Maybe this kind of thing is what Kurama means, when he speaks about fate." He brought a hand to his stomach. "I could back out now, if I wanted to. You've left me unbound, you've allowed me control of my chakra. I've still got the fox. On the other hand, I know that this is necessary." He shook his head. "All this time I've been fighting, and this is the first time, the first instant..."

"Kurama?"

Naruto blinked, his train of thought derailed, and he met Jiraiya's eyes. "Yeah. The Kyūbi's name." He smiled. "He told me what it was. We have a truce, of sorts. Actually, we are a bit annoyed with each other at the moment, but I think he's warming up to me. Probably it helps that I'm changing. Little by little." His stomach warmed under his hand.

Jiraiya stood calmly. "Changed or not, your time's up. Are you ready to face the music?"

Naruto rose to his feet, his limbs feeling awfully weak, but his spirit was strong. "Now or never, I suppose." He followed his sensei silently, his footsteps heavy.

_Let__'__s hope __f__ate is kind to her servan__t._

* * *

There was a knock at the door.

"Oh, What the _hell _do you want now?" Sakura shouted, fuming, as she raised herself from her bed with a pained wince, rubbing her forearm with a slight whimper. The knock had been soft, careful, but right now even the slightest noise was enough to set her off. "Didn't I tell you to stop bothering me!? Please, I've got a headache like you won't believe..."

"Sakura?" came a mystified voice from the other side of the door. "Are you okay?"

"...Ino." Sakura sighed in relief as she recognized the new voice. Even if it was from an irksome person, it was a hell of a lot better than another run-in with Kakashi, or either one of her overly worried parents. "Sorry, I thought you were that... Never mind, please, come in." She flopped back down onto her bed, closing her eyes in an attempt to calm down. No such luck.

Ino glanced inside carefully, wiping her long hair out of her face as she took in Sakura's disheveled mop of pink, which had clearly not been washed. "You look... sort of terrible."

"Heh, yeah. I feel like it. Seems like I just ran a marathon on my hands." She opened one eye, tentatively, studying the Yamanaka as she stood uncertainly by the door. "Come on in, get a seat. It's not like I can muster up enough energy to toss you out, anyway..."

"Alright," Ino replied in an unusually small voice, and she sat down heavily on one of the rickety chairs that Sakura rarely ever used, as nobody visited her house much. The door slammed closed behind her due to the draft since the window was wide open. Next to the window was a comically large hole straight through the wood, and splinters were all across the floor.

"Don't mind the mess," Sakura muttered.

Ino stared. "What's... what's gotten into you? I heard you yelling from the street, it was crazy. And you punched a hole in your wall...? How the hell did you do that?" She paused. "You don't even have your fists bandaged up... When did _you _become that strong?"

Sakura pushed herself upright, forcing herself to ignore her aching muscles, and gave Ino a deadpan stare. "I've been training, of course. And what do you think happened, Ino? I just came back from the _worst _mission I've _ever_ had, and it was the first C-rank we even did!" She scowled darkly. "And then _that _happened. I still can't believe that -" She took a deep breath. "Now I'm _pissed off_ and there's nobody to punch over the whole thing! _Shannaro!_"

Ino flinched back. "You're kind of aggressive today, aren't you?"

"Of course I am!" Sakura exclaimed, then she sighed and shook her head sadly. "I'm just riled up, and I can't sleep, and I've been thinking way too much about stuff I shouldn't be bothered with." She bit her lip. "I overdid things, and now my muscles are all cramping up, and my team's sprinting ahead of me so fast It's unbelievable!"

"What...?" Ino asked, confused.

Sakura sighed deeply, glad to get a few things off her chest, even if Ino seemed completely bewildered. "Look, I don't know if you have that with your team, with Chōji and Shikamaru, since they're laid-back and such. I've always said I really liked Sasuke-kun, and I lectured Naruto as if I was better, but now..." She faltered. "I am lagging behind. I'm the one that couldn't take another step at the end, you know. I collapsed when my adrenalin ran out. And that's even with my training schedule, which is _insane. _I hate it!" She looked away, and tears came to her eyes.

Ino worriedly reached out. "Sakura, what... what's happened? I thought I'd hear what your mission was like, I heard stories about you saving Hinata's team, but you're... all sharp edges. What could have happened that -" She swallowed, her voice thin and timid. "Oh. _Oh._ Already?"

Sakura looked up, her red-ringed eyes catching Ino's, and she knew that the other understood. She was a Yamanaka, trained in understanding people's thoughts and actions. Her father was a long-time interrogator, of course she would have picked up on the tells. "I... It's okay. They were just Missing-Nin." Her voice failed her, and she shuddered.

"Oh, Sakura -"

"They were... just a couple of bastards trying to kill Sasuke-kun..." Sakura pressed on, and she closed her eyes again, but that brought the images into focus. She thought of her fist flashing out, tearing into someone who stared at her with a baffled expression, which was then ripped apart by pain. She could feel the blood still slick on her fingers, longer after it had been washed off

And she could still find no regret, not really. No regret. Just relief. And that _terrified _her.

"I... my bare hands." She swallowed thickly. Ino was suddenly there in a hug, like in the old days, when they were _bestest friends forever_, before a stupid rivalry about Sasuke had torn them apart. Tears made their way down Sakura's cheeks, though they were more over relief that someone understood, at least a little. She did not regret what she did, and she knew why. She had been confronted with the reason why a shinobi sometimes had to go to those lengths, up close and personal.

She could understand that look in her parents' eyes when they looked at her, and she knew that the experience could not be put into simple words, that she could not explain it to them. They were terrified of her now, being civilians. They were hardly the type to understand why a shinobi would go through these things voluntarily. Perhaps in time they would come to deal with the realization that their daughter was a killer, but Ino understood.

"There were two of them," Sakura said at last, haltingly, after she gathered herself. She gazed at the floor as Ino sat next to her. "Three, actually, Sasuke-kun got one too. There were too many for him, and I didn't know what to do, and it was all a moment of panic, so I didn't think. I reacted." She quivered. "I killed them. It didn't even seem real, then. It was easy. They were Chūnin, supposedly, but it must've been the surprise..." She pressed her fists tight together. "...Ino, can we forget this whole rivalry stuff? I don't care about all that. Right now I could use a friend again."

Ino didn't need to answer. The two just sat there for a time as Sakura leaned into her old childhood friend, talking about every stupid thing that happened in the mission, every terrible moment, while she just listened. The rivalry now seemed awfully childish in comparison to what truly happened in their profession.

"Sasuke and Naruto - they're strong, Ino. Sasuke's so powerful, and Naruto is a _monster._" She twitched with remorse for her unthinking words. "I mean that he's a chakra freak, and he flings it around like it's nothing. He went up against a _Jōnin_, and he basically won _by himself!_" She shivered. "That Missing-Nin was taking over his clones left and right, and still he figured out a way to keep going. It's absurd. Then, when I thought he was captured... it turns out he had some crazy ace up his sleeve. Kakashi-sensei was barely even needed at all..."

"Naruto, huh?" Ino asked softly. "Didn't think he had it in him, though dad has always been a bit wary about him. Especially lately. Says he's weird."

"Oh, he's weird alright," Sakura agreed with a choked chuckle, and a small smile appeared. "There's no doubt about him being a bit deranged. Out there, he might as well have been the Hokage himself, the way he bossed people around. Strange thing was it felt real, you know? Not like he was doing his usual clownish acting, but... like he could back it up. It was impressive." She frowned. "I think even Sasuke picked up on it. I don't know why, but Naruto's gotten under his skin. Sasuke-kun went and ranted against Kakashi-sensei! Over Naruto! How crazy is that?"

"What did the idiot do to deserve that?" Ino asked dryly, raising an eyebrow.

Sakura shook her head hesitantly, her smile vanishing. "No, there was... something strange. Something wrong. Kakashi-sensei was all serious about it, and he knocked Naruto out. I don't know the details, but I think he is under arrest," Sakura said hesitantly, her eyes pleading forgiveness. "It's... I can't tell."

"Village secrets, Missing-Nin, and a whole shinobi team in the hospital," Ino said, summing it up. "That has to have been one hell of a C-rank mission, seriously. We just got to sit around with a drunken bridge-builder until he finished his stupid project. Three weeks of utter boredom and listening to a whiny brat who hates shinobi."

"Heh, I'm almost jealous." Sakura smiled. "Well, our mission was... good, though," she said, shivering. "Not _good_ good, but... it's out of the way, right?" She sounded desperate even to herself. "This mission will probably be marked an A-rank, since the rogue Jōnin was that strong, so that means it'll be ages before we get another one like this. Maybe when we're Chūnin or higher. Hopefully. I've already seen something of how bad those can get." She nodded to herself, confidence bolstered. "And I'm still here. And I'm not stopping. Not until I am what Naruto -" She stopped, blushing as she realized who was next to her.

Ino smirked. "Naruto, eh? Not Sasuke-kun? Don't tell me -"

_"No!" _Sakura burst out, her fist raised as she fumed. "_Ino - ! Don't you dare!"_

"Alright... no need to bash my head in over it." Ino said with her hands raised before her in a gesture of surrender. "I guess he got under your skin too, huh? Hey... what do you say about visiting the hospital? I'm sure that Team 8 could use encouragement, and it could get your minds off things for a bit. Maybe they'll know what's going on."

Sakura exhaled slowly. "That sounds good. I hope everything will turn out for the best. I really do."

* * *

When a murderer holds court over another killer, who can claim the cleaner conscience? When a liar stands triumphant in his position of power, even as he blames another for his own sins, who is truly just? In a world that is obsessed with war and bloodshed, people blame each other to demonstrate their own superiority, but they are mired in the same morass.

And what of those who undermine the very idea of law, of fair judgement? I have seen those who would commit genocide before a single word could be heard from accused.

In this world, justice is dead.

Even those with honor in their hearts shall be ruined by this perversion, in time. They will be forced to destroy the last vestiges of a sense of justice, or perish.

_Same as I was._

"Foolish boy," said Uchiha Itachi, his eyes gleaming red as he gazed down on his old village, perched atop the Hokage monument.

* * *

**Author's Note: **More or less concurrently with this update, Nauro has most likely updated his own fanfic (Steal My Thunder God) for which I edit and offer suggestions. If you like timetravel tales, you'd probably like it - much like SMTG, it takes a different tack than the usual fair in the genre. You can find it on his channel (Nauro) or at id: 8971041.

I cannot confirm nor deny that the endings of the chapters are in some way, similar. Nor that it is not a coincidence. ;D

The next chapter will deal with Naruto facing the Third and his council, as well as Danzo as an independent agent - and the repercussions for his actions. Yeah, canon is now quite solidly screwed.


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